The Children of Manticore Castle
by The Hermione Granger Fan Club
Summary: Case Smith, now fourteen, has a very strange dream featuring some familiar people. NINTH CHAPTER UP!
1. Chapter One: He Met Them In A Dream

Fourteen-year-old Case Smith went to turn off his desk lamp before his father passed his bedroom. For once, he wasn't quick enough, and Charlie Smith poked his head around the door.   
  
"Case Michael Smith, turn off the light, for God's sakes. You've been studying non-stop for three hours."  
  
"Dad, I-" began Case, but his father interrupted.   
  
"Go to sleep. It's a school day tomorrow."  
  
Grumbling, Case crawled into bed. He could stay up pretty late, and he liked to get good grades. His father always went sort of tense when he showed exactly how advanced he was. It reminded him of his mother.   
  
Case had his mother's picture beside his bed, in the exact place where his best friend Jared had pictures of his three girlfriends. When he was young he'd used to write letters to her because he'd finish his schoolwork so much ahead of time.   
  
"Dear Mommy," they had gone when he was young. "Today we are learning how to multiply big numbers. Dad doesn't have time to hear me say mine. He's at work a lot. I wish you were here to hear mine. I am not having trouble. I love you. Case M. Smith."  
  
"Mom," the letters had said as he grew older. "I got a note on my desk today from Jodie Sampson. It said GUESS WHO LIKES YOU? X X X, J. SAMPSON. Help! What am I supposed to DO? You're a woman, can't you give me some kind of sign from wherever you are at? She's cute, I guess, but this is the first time this has happened. I am good, how about you? I love you. Case M. Smith."  
  
Once Matt, a boy in his class a year ago, had tried to see over his shoulder to what he was writing. He had seen the words "... I love you." and before Case had been able to set him straight, the whole class had known about Case's "... deep and meaningful relationship with some chick." Jodie Sampson had cried in the girls' bathrooms for an hour and given him dirty looks for the rest of the month.  
  
Case's mom was still a big part of his life. He vaguely remembered being little, and a beautiful woman with long black hair had sat on his bed and talked with him. Even now... he missed her. His dad was great, but he had to admit that he needed a mother.   
  
Case slept. He dreamt he stood at the foot of a winding stone staircase lit by burning torches. Through a slit window he could see an endless cornflower sky- it was summer.   
  
He heard pounding footsteps and pressed against the wall. Four little girls skidded to a halt before him. There were two small blonde ones, an Asian girl and a pretty black girl who looked older and more harassed. All were wearing gowns that looked as though they had been beautifully made once, but were now worn and faded, with frayed sleeves and hems.   
  
"Who are you?" he asked in confusion.   
  
None took even the slightest notice of him. The oldest turned to the others and spoke in hurried, hushed tones. "That braggart Lydecker is in the courtyard inspecting the others, so we have roughly half a dozen minutes to get to the twelfth tower before he does a head count and realises we are not present. He can't hurt us in our tower."  
  
"You said we had four score a second ago!" whined one of the blonde girls, putting her hands on her hips. "You have no sense of direction, Tinga!"  
  
Case froze. Tinga?  
  
"Hush, Jondy, and cease- even the walls can hear us," hissed the Asian girl, adjusting a lopsided tiara. "Listen to Tinga."  
  
"Why ARE we listening to Tinga anyhow?" asked the second blonde. "You and I, Brin, we're ten years old, same as she."  
  
"Well, I'm older!" protested Princess Tinga. "Syl, Jondy, just hush, and we can hide in the tower and play."  
  
"Hello, girls," said an eerie voice. An old man stepped out of the shadows. The girls gaped in fear and gathered behind Tinga. He was wearing a long, blood red cape, and a crown. He had a sword in his hand, and Tinga gave it a wary look.   
  
"My king," she said in a voice that gave away how afraid she was. She curtseyed deeply, and the others followed her lead. He gave a short bow.   
  
"Why aren't you in the courtyard with your siblings?" he said in a dangerous voice, stepping closer to them. Automatically, the four girls backed up on step, looking ready to run screaming for their lives.   
  
"We were-" stammered Princess Brin, her eyes wide with fear. "We were going to- to come and ask-"  
  
"We were going to come and ask..." said Princess Syl, looking to the others for help.   
  
"- whether we can go on sentry duty in our gowns," interrupted Princess Jondy. The king looked sceptical and the girls tried to look as though this story wasn't completely new to them.   
  
Tinga gave her sisters the slightest nod and all three did little twirls. "We like our gowns better, Your Highness," she put in.   
  
"Of course you can't go on sentry duty in your gowns," he snapped. "They'll get dirty. Besides, they are the only legacy your poor parents left to you before their execution." He gave a twisted smile.   
  
"Of course, King Lydecker. How could we have been so stupid?" gushed Princess Syl. Case could see she was being sarcastic.   
  
"It is expected of you. You are becoming women, and women tend toward fanciful notions. Come along."  
  
He began to turn on the stairs. Princess Brin gave Tinga a nudge, and Princess Tinga piped up, "Your Grace, we need to go to the tower to change into rough clothes."  
  
"That is not necessary. I have had the servants bring your rough dresses down for you." He began to briskly walk down the stairs. "Come on!"  
  
Reluctantly, the girls hopped off the step, formed a line and began to follow. "Well, we wouldn't need to worry about getting our gowns dirty if you gave us more clothes..." muttered Princess Jondy mutinously. He turned sharply and Princess Tinga darted in front of her sister, her hand on a small dagger tied to a cord around her waist.   
  
"Did you say something, Princess?"  
  
"She didn't, sir. It must be the stairs creaking."  
  
"Steps of stone do not creak, foolish girl," he reprimanded and continued on his way. Princess Tinga gave Princess Jondy an extremely dirty look. Jondy shrugged.   
  
Case silently followed the five people down endless stairs and corridors, to a giant, stone front hall the size of a cathedral. Guards, their faces obscured in shadow, stood at either side of a colossal door.   
  
A small pile of brown cloth lay on the floor- the rough clothes for the girls. Princess Tinga selected the largest one and handed smaller ones to the other girls. They quickly changed their clothes and stood in a small cluster before beginning to follow the king outside.  
  
One of the guards hobbled into the light for a second, and Case gasped in shock as he saw that the guard's face was scarred and twisted beyond all recognition. The guard snapped inch-long fangs at the girls and cackled crazily as they squealed and quickened their pace.   
  
In a large courtyard, a huge group of girls and boys stood assembled. The girls wore baggy dresses that looked as though they had been made out of burlap sacks, with big, obvious cross-stitches everywhere. The boys wore ill-fitting tunics made of identical material. They were like uniforms...  
  
Princess Jondy skittered catlike over to another girl, with dark curly hair and large eyes. The other girl smiled in welcome and they proceeded to do an extremely complicated-looking handshake in greeting.  
  
"Where were you?" whispered the other girl.   
  
"That tyrant King Lydecker did surprise us as we ran for the home tower, Max," said Princess Jondy with a wicked grin.  
  
Princess Syl made her way serenely over to a tall, skinny boy who looked similar to the Princess Max. She went on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear. He laughed softly.   
  
Soldiers moved throughout the group, distributing child-sized bows and arrows to each child. Some held their weapons awkwardly, like a short blonde boy who needed to be shown how to hold his bow correctly. Others stood resolutely, like a thin dark girl who switched hers expertly from hand to hand. Then there was a couple, like Princess Syl, who pretended to shoot at the King whenever he turned his head. Everyone, especially the tall boy beside her, laughed at that.   
  
"You know what to do, children," said the king in a gravelly voice. The children set off for the forest, with Case silently following. He heard the king yell after them, "Shoot any outlaws on sight!"  
  
Case looked behind him at the fast disappearing castle. It was taller than a skyscraper and had a great many towers. It was surrounded by fields and a forest that stretched away into the horizon for what seemed like forever.   
  
The forest was gigantic and overgrown. The children walked in fearful silence, making a single-file line behind what looked like the oldest boy.   
  
After a long time, they reached a clearing and fanned out, checking hollows in trees and various hiding places only they could know. Even Case was surprised when it came...  
  
A demonic black bird, with blood-red eyes, descended cawing from the silent heavens. It landed on a thin branch that bowed slightly under its weight. Everyone jumped, but Princess Syl raised her bow, took careful aim, and shot at it.   
  
Somehow, Case knew what was going to happen. He panicked and cried out.   
  
The bird took flight. The unfortunate new target of the arrow was a boy with dark hair who was shot in the side. He crumpled to the ground in pain, gasping.   
  
Everyone ran and gathered around him. They formed a circle. Princess Tinga pushed her way through. She gasped. "Danny...?"  
  
"Is he dead?" said the thin, fierce dark girl shrilly. Everyone looked anxious and Princess Jondy bent to try and heal him. She pulled the arrow out of his side.   
  
"Danny, can you hear me?" she asked anxiously. "Say something. Anything. Are you in pain? Tell me what's wrong."  
  
He opened his mouth to try and say something. Blood trickled from his mouth and his eyes slid closed. They bowed their heads.   
  
"He is," murmured Princess Jondy.   
  
The short blonde boy said nervously, "Bring him back, Jondy! Make him better."  
  
"You can't bring people back from the dead," hissed the tallest of all the children, a boy. He elbowed the blonde boy.   
  
Everyone looked at the bird, which had appeared out of nowhere. With anger and grief glowing in their young eyes, Case watched as a few raised their bows and shot at it. A hail of arrows flew through the air, every one missing the bird, which disappeared once more.   
  
Everyone turned their attention once more to the dead Prince Danny, and then to Princess Syl.   
  
"Murderer," hissed the thin fierce girl with venom.   
  
"But I didn't-" began Princess Syl fretfully. They didn't let her finish. A boy, who looked absolutely distraught, marched up to Syl and punched her in the mouth.   
  
She dropped to her knees and seemed barely able to hold herself up, her eyes filling up with tears. All around were accusing eyes. Syl fingered the edge of her mouth, her fingers coming away bloodied. She held herself up with one hand and cradled her head suddenly with the other, sobbing like her heart had been snapped in two.   
  
Two of them, a blue-eyed blonde girl and an older boy, supported Prince Danny's body between them and began to solemnly drag him back through the forest. Everyone else followed, giving Princess Syl glares full of hatred.   
  
Only one stayed behind to help her up- the tall boy she'd been talking to earlier. He talked quietly, trying to console his hysterical sister. Finally, she was able to say something understandable.   
  
He was talking desperately, looking worried. "It's not your fault, Syl, it was an accident, it surprised us-" He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself as much as her.   
  
"Krit, help me up," she said tiredly, her eyes red with weeping. She began to cry again as Prince Krit half-escorted and half-dragged his sister after their fast-leaving siblings.   
  
Case stood in a wordless horror and went to follow. Syl suddenly shivered and looked around with an odd look on her face.   
  
"What's wrong?" asked Krit.   
  
She frowned and shook her head as if trying to expel some ridiculous notion. "Everything," she whispered.   
  
Case awoke suddenly, shivering. He sat up in bed, looking around wildly. It was a dream. But how could it have been? He'd stood among them, felt the sun on his skin and heard the Princess Syl crying. He remembered the names from somewhere, too, but he couldn't imagine where. The only ones that sounded familiar were Max and Tinga, though he couldn't remember why.   
  
Suddenly he remembered a woman's voice. "Once upon a time," she'd said, "there was a princess name Tinga..."  
  
He didn't know anyone called Tinga. His mom's name had been Penny, and there weren't many other women in his life.  
  
Breathing hard, Case snatched up the picture beside his bed and looked desperately at the smiling image of his long-dead mother. He tried fitfully to recall the dream girl's face. It was slipping away.   
  
There was a definite resemblance.   
  
Then it hit him.  
  
"Mom?"   
  
* * *   
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to Fox and James Cameron. Not me. So don't sue.   
  
NOTE: I think I may add more chapters- would you lot like that? More chapters? 


	2. Chapter Two: Fighting The Nomaly Guards

Case gave his algebra exercises to the teacher and returned to his school desk. He pulled out a couple of sheets of paper and began to write. "Dear Mom," he began. "I had a really weird dream last night about these kids who were trapped inside a castle by this evil king. Then they were sent out into the forest by the king and this little blonde girl accidentally shot one of the others with an arrow. Strange thing was, I only really recognised two- this little girl who looks like your sister Max, and this older girl named Tinga, who sort of looked like you...? That's really odd. I don't KNOW anyone called Tinga. But the weirdest thing was that for one second, I thought the blonde girl could see me, or hear me. I don't know. Otherwise, I'm good. There's a school dance coming up and Jodie Sampson has been asking all my friends what the odds are that I'm taking her. She even called up the house last night. The first time she hung up, and I could hear lots of giggling in the background. Then the second time she blurted out, 'Someone likes you!' and hung up. No shit.   
  
Sorry- I know you're not supposed to swear in front of dead parents. I just wish she'd leave me alone. Did you act this weird around boys when you were young? Can you please send me some sort of sign as to what to do? Thanks. I love you. Case M. Smith."  
  
The bell rang and Case gratefully scooped up his books. He staked out the lockers for Jodie or her posse before running in, grabbing his backpack and books and leaving.   
  
The bus was swarming with teenagers. He groaned as he saw Jodie in the very back row of seats. She grinned and waved at him, and Case weakly returned the wave. Unfortunately, his usual seat with Jared, who was absent that day, happened to be only a row or two in front of the girls. He was too tired to put up with Jodie's difficulty... much too tired.   
  
He sat down, wanting to read the new science fiction novel he'd gotten out of the school library, but instead he found his eyes sliding shut and himself slipping away... away from the banal world of the schoolbus.   
  
And Case found himself in a dirt field, on a hot and muggy day. Although he was still wearing jeans and a t-shirt, he spotted some young people a way away who were dressed quite differently.   
  
He remembered them. There was the Princess Tinga, and Princess Jondy. He only vaguely recalled the other two children- both girls. One was a thin dark girl with a fierce sort of look on her face, the other was blonde, blue-eyed and serene-looking, with a gentle determination on her face.   
  
All of them had tools in their hands and were breaking up the black soil. What seemed like a million miles away, Case could just see the tiny forms of other groups of children, also working furiously.   
  
Princess Jondy had a livid look on her face as she hit at the earth again and again. With grimy hands, she swept her long hair, which she'd plaited away from her face, from one shoulder to the other. Case walked behind her almost instinctively and was unnerved by the fact that there was something black on the back of her neck.   
  
It was a brand, a little lopsided and surrounded by small scars, as though there had been a struggle when they were branding her. It was the number 210.   
  
"I HATE THIS!" she bellowed, to everyone's surprise, and threw her hoe a very long way. "WHY- DO- WE- HAVE- TO- DO- THIS-?!" Jondy yelled.   
  
"Jondy-" began the blonde girl, but Jondy seemed to have snapped.   
  
"THIS- IS- COMPLETELY- POINTLESS-! Nothing ever GROWS here, anyhow!"  
  
"We have to," said the dark girl, her voice set. "We have to because the king says we have to."  
  
"Shut up, Jace!" snapped Jondy, and gave Princess Jace a shove.   
  
"Make me. You've been whining and complaining all day and it's really getting on my nerves!"  
  
Princess Tinga intervened. "Ladies do not whine or complain. They make observations."  
  
"Well, thank the Blue Faerie SOMEONE'S finally gotten through to you!" argued Jondy.   
  
"Care to explain?" The two girls were circling each other now, like animals ready to fight.   
  
"You- you-" Jondy jumped at Jace and the children began to fight, yelling so loudly that children in the other labour groups frowned and looked up, shading their eyes against the fierce sun.   
  
"Jace!" shrieked the blonde girl. "Jace, stop it!" Princess Tinga nodded at her and both waded in to pull them apart. Consequently, they took quite a few blows themselves.   
  
Suddenly, Princess Jondy began violently twitching and convulsing. She went limp in Tinga's arms. Tinga struggled to hold her up.   
  
"Oh, no-" moaned Princess Tinga. "Not again!"  
  
"She wasn't DOING anything," said the blonde girl vehemently.   
  
Jace stood up out of her sister's arms abruptly, looking wounded, betrayed. "She hit me, Eva!"  
  
Princess Eva patted Jace's arm shyly, like Jace didn't like being touched. "I know she did, Jace, but she's smaller than you."  
  
"Not THAT much smaller," muttered Princess Jace mutinously, casting a jealous look at Princess Jondy, whose eyes had rolled back into her head.  
  
Three other children, the Princess Max and two older boys, came hurtling over. "Jondy!" wailed Max forlornly, and went to help Tinga hold her up.   
  
A tough-looking boy folded his arms across his front. "I'll go and tell them to make it stop. It's the third one this week with the shaking sickness. All of you have got to behave better!"  
  
"We DO behave!" protested Princess Tinga. "And we can't go and ask the king's sorcerers to make it stop. Let's take her up to the tower, then she can rest. It'll stop... it always does."  
  
"During WORK?" asked Princess Jace scandalously. "Do you want to get us KILLED?"  
  
"M-Make it... stop," Jondy managed to stutter.   
  
"Hold on, Jondy," said the other boy resolutely. "That's a good idea, Tinga. I'll help."  
  
Tinga gave the boy a happy little smile that somehow made Case very uneasy. He went to help her with Jondy.   
  
"Thank you, Ben, and I'll need a few more."  
  
"I'm in," volunteered Princess Eva. "Come on, Jace. Please? We need you."  
  
Jace muttered some more and scuffed a bare foot in the dirt, but agreed.   
  
"All right!" said Princess Tinga.   
  
"Me too," said Princess Max stubbornly.   
  
"No, not you."  
  
"Yes, me. Jondy wants me, don't you, Jondy?"  
  
Jondy gave the slightest jerk of the head that could be interpreted as a nod.   
  
"See!"  
  
The oldest boy rolled his eyes behind her back. Case spotted a brand on his neck, too- revealed by what looked like recently cut hair. A faded 599 bloomed against his skin.   
  
Princess Tinga and Prince Ben held their ailing sister up. Princess Max walked alongside them while Jace and Eva ran ahead through the ankle-deep dirt, checking that the coast was clear. The older boy stood behind, shaking his head before running back to his group. Case silently followed.   
  
The huge castle door was unguarded, and so the six children entered unnoticed. Eva crossed the hall to a tapestry showing a hunt, and held it up for the others to reveal a door into a winding staircase. They stepped through  
  
Enthralled, Case looked all around. This castle had to be the biggest place he'd ever seen. It made the Taj Mahal look like a cupboard.   
  
He walked almost too closely behind Princess Max, who now stood at the back with Princess Jace. Both were watching for attacks from behind.   
  
Max looked around suddenly and gasped. Case realised in shock that she could see him. Princess Max screamed.   
  
Everyone jumped and looked at her accusingly. "Max, you simpleton! We'll be heard! Even the Blue Faerie will be powerless to help us!" hissed Ben.   
  
"But- But there's someone there-" she stammered, and looked behind. She looked confused and Case no longer saw himself reflected in her eyes.   
  
Eva, who was at the front, peered around the bend and looked around at them. She mouthed something.   
  
"What?" asked Jace, Tinga, Ben and Max.   
  
NOMALY, she mouthed.   
  
And all in a second, a hulking guard with a deformed face and sharp teeth crashed through the stone wall. He gave an animal-like roar at the sight of them, yellow eyes blinking in rage. He seemed to be deciding who to attack first.   
  
"Let go of Jondy," instructed Princess Tinga, and with a shrug both she and Ben simultaneously let go of Jondy. She fell backwards down three steps, and Max grabbed her, nearly falling down after being hit with an entire nine-year-old. Jace took up her other arm.   
  
"Tin-GA!" yelled Princess Jace. "You could have hurt her!"  
  
Princess Tinga's mind was not on her sisters. She gazed up at the Nomaly fearfully. "RUN!" she screamed. Eva bolted down the stairs almost inhumanly fast, following the already-gone Jace and Max, who were now holding Jondy up.   
  
The Nomaly bellowed and swiped at Tinga with long arms. The two children hopped down two steps and ducked in unison.   
  
"Tinga?" asked Ben. Princess Tinga was quickly counting bricks. Her hand suddenly shot out and she yanked a loose brick straight from the wall, letting it fall to the steps and shatter, narrowly missing her foot. Out of the gap in the stone she pulled two swords.   
  
"Catch!" she yelled, and tossed him a sword, which he grabbed easily.   
  
Both struck fighting stances, readying themselves to battle the fearsome Nomaly. It let out a scream and dived at them, but they jumped to the side, pressing themselves up against opposing sides of the wall.   
  
Ben swung his sword up at the Nomaly's chest. It grabbed the blade and lifted him right off his feet, staggering back to the gaping hole in the wall, ready to climb back through and take him away forever.   
  
Tinga gasped. "BEN!" she screamed in anguish, and her face was marred with anger and fear. She leapt up a few steps and scrambled to her feet when she tripped to aid the yelling Prince Ben.   
  
"Tinga- HELP!" he called to her, for now the Nomaly was holding him at arm's length, and if he let go he would go falling into the depths of the castle, where in addition to becoming their prisoner he'd most likely break both legs after such a fall.   
  
"I'm trying!" she answered, and looked around quickly. With one strong, true swipe of her sword she slashed the Nomaly's leg.   
  
With a yowl of agony, the Nomaly tripped, its leg profusely bleeding, and tumbled back down the shaft. Prince Ben jumped. His hands desperately scrabbled at the jagged stone ledge of the Nomaly tunnel, and he slid along a few seconds.   
  
Princess Tinga threw herself down on her stomach, reached as far as she could and still couldn't get to her brother without lying on the flimsy ledge... and possibly sending both of them to their doom.   
  
Then, she had a brainwave. She held the flat edge of the sword out to Prince Ben, and pulled him out that way. Both knelt on the stairs, breathing hard.   
  
"Tinga- you... you saved me."  
  
"Yes." Case could see that the girl named Tinga felt embarrassed.   
  
"That was brave, Tinga."  
  
She turned her face away, and Case could see her blushing a little. "We'd better go. The tunnel has been broken open; more will come when they hear of their brother's battle."  
  
"Who could care about the plight of a Nomaly?" shuddered Prince Ben. He pulled her up and they continued up the stairs.   
  
Case silently tailed them up endless stairs- at one point the two ducked behind yet another tapestry that brought them to a vertical shaft with a climbing rope.   
  
At the top of the shaft, a panting Case climbed through the unlit fireplace (this was apparently a secret passage) and found himself in a circular room with one biggish window. There were cloths and tapestries hanging off the walls, a great few beds- one of which had a doll on it. There was a huge open chest full of child-sized weapons- axes, swords, daggers, maces, bows and arrows.   
  
The far end of the room had a wide doorway with a shut, locked wooden door. Although there was a lot of dust, this place definitely had a feel of home, family and safety.   
  
Lying on a pile of cushions was a weak, but recovering Princess Jondy. Jace was loitering by the door and leaning on a spear, Max lay next to Jondy and Princess Eva was practicing with her own sword, swinging and chopping at a piece of broken furniture from a pile in the corner. She grunted and then looked up, giving a sweet, shy smile to the returned heroes. Jondy waved, her hand slumping to the pillows almost immediately. Jace nodded from her place by the door.   
  
Max saw Ben and Tinga were all right and ran over to Ben, hugging him. "You escaped!"  
  
Princess Tinga stood back as Max hugged Ben tightly. Prince Ben seemed to sense her feeling of being ignored. "'Twas Tinga who saved me. Tinga, tell them how you fought the Nomaly."  
  
Even Princess Jace gasped. "You FOUGHT a NOMALY?" asked Max, gazing at her big sister with renewed respect. "Tell us!"  
  
"Is it safe?" asked Tinga, as Princess Max dragged her over to where she and Jondy lay. Princess Eva threw her sword into the weapons chest and ran to join them.  
  
Jondy rolled her eyes. "You... you know that they can't hurt us up in our tower. No magic spell can hurt us; no Nomaly can drag us away. This is our sanctuary."   
  
As Tinga began to relate her story, Jace tentatively inched forward until Princess Eva saw her. "Cease a moment, Tinga- Jace, come sit with us. Don't stand over there by yourself."  
  
Jace suddenly didn't look so fierce any more. "Really?" she asked softly.   
  
"Come on, come and sit next to me," implored Eva.   
  
She jumped almost too far to be a coincidence and landed next to Eva, who put her arm around her casually. Princess Jace looked surprised, but relaxed and listened to the story.   
  
"... this whole ugly incident could have been avoided if Max hadn't screamed. What was the MATTER, Maxie?" asked Tinga.   
  
"I..." said Max, and a dreamy, thoughtful look came over her young face. "There was a boy..." she murmured, and Case could have sworn she looked at him as she said this...  
  
"CASE!"  
  
Case jolted awake to the laughter of the other kids on the bus. "He's just so CUTE when he's asleep!" said Jodie rapturously. Case blushed.   
  
He waited until the laughter had died down before delving into his backpack for some paper. This merited yet another letter to his mother...  
  
* * *   
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to Fox and James Cameron. Not me. So don't sue.   
  
NOTE: I kind of like writing this story... I didn't have a clue as to how to get the barcodes in, so I changed them to brands. There will be more on those in later chapters. It's my school holidays now, so I have LOTS of time to write! 


	3. Chapter Three: Murder Of An Innocent

It was a long time before Case visited the castle again in slumber. Case was a good artist and liked to draw, so he drew pictures of the castle and the Nomalies, and the children. But their faces were fading. He couldn't remember some of their names, or their voices... it was as though they were distant relatives he'd left behind long ago.   
  
Case sat at the kitchen table sketching. Frustrated, he crumpled up an attempt and tossed it into a nearby wastebasket as his father entered the room.   
  
"I'm going out tonight, Case, so you can order pizza," said Charlie.   
  
Case looked up. "You don't go out," he said in bewilderment as his dad searched in vain for his other shoe. "You don't go out, Dad."  
  
"Tonight I do," Charlie answered.   
  
Case picked up his sandwich and took a thoughtful bite. He couldn't seem to swallow it, but forced himself to. "You don't... have a date, do you, Dad?"  
  
"Case, I'm just going out with some people from my work. Don't be paranoid." He left the room.   
  
Case went into the living room and pulled out a photo album, which he flicked through. His parents hadn't owned their own camera until Case was two, and didn't take many photos even after that.   
  
He looked wistfully at a picture of his mother and himself sitting at a kitchen table and drawing pictures. If he squinted just enough, he could roughly make out a cartoony sort of building with a couple of towers that his mom was drawing with a row of small stick figures in front of it.   
  
Only nature could have made someone so great, he thought, gazing at her.   
  
"Case, go, you'll be late for school!" called Charlie.   
  
Case spotted the schoolbus outside and panicked. He grabbed his backpack and bolted out the door, running alongside the fast-moving bus.   
  
"HEY!" he yelled. "STOP THE BUS!"  
  
The bus ground to a halt. Everyone stared at him as he climbed on and modestly went to sit with his friends.   
  
But he felt separated from the conversation. All through homeroom he brooded, and he slid quietly into his seat in English. The teacher began to talk about their assignment.   
  
Case was tired. He'd stayed up late the night before, playing video games and finishing homework. He supposed he was pushing his luck, staying up four nights in a row.   
  
I'll just rest my head on the desk for a second, he thought, and felt his eyes falling shut...  
  
"WAKE UP!" he heard someone yell, and for a second thought they'd seen him falling asleep. But no- he remembered this place. The courtyard outside the castle.   
  
And suddenly the faces of the children all around, standing in lines and facing each other, all came rushing back. A boy had fallen down and was twitching.   
  
I remember him, Case thought bemusedly. Blonde Boy.   
  
King Lydecker was standing over him, yelling. Everyone stood there tensely. He could see Princess... Eva, was it? Yes, her name was Eva. He could see her face caught up in fear. Her lips were moving very fast, mouthing, please Jack, come on, Jack, wake up, wake up, please...  
  
Lydecker shook his head and snapped his fingers. Two Nomaly guards came down the stairway into the courtyard, picking up one of Prince Jack's arms each and dragging him away.  
  
With a silently sad look on her face, Princess Max seemed to forget herself and step out of line. A human soldier got in her face, forcing her back. "Back in line, girl!" he raged.  
  
And suddenly Case was standing beside the fireplace in the tower. Two boys were climbing through the fireplace laden down with food- the boy who resembled Princess Max and a tall skinny boy with close-cropped hair that plainly showed off the 205 branded onto his neck.   
  
"Something for every taste," kidded 205 Boy, handing around bread and bottles of liquid that were shared among the children.  
  
Everyone was very subdued. Tinga stood in a corner with Brin and some boys, talking. Brin was crying and Tinga had her arm around her.   
  
Princess Jondy was perched on a bed head, playing cards with Princess Syl, who sat on the bed. Both were simply tossing random cards into the centre, not keeping their minds on the game.  
  
The thin dark girl, Princess Jace, had a sword and was swinging at a broken armchair. With a grunt of defeat, she threw down her sword and wandered into a corner to brood.   
  
Princess Eva sat with a lyre on her cot, strumming away, trying to find her muse. Frustrated, she pushed it away and flopped backward, staring at the high ceiling.   
  
Prince Ben sat unhappily on his cot, staring despondently at an uninhabited cot between his cot and another girl's. The oldest boy and Princess Max came to sit with him.  
  
"Zack," he intoned flatly, nodding at him. "Max."  
  
"They took Jack," said Prince Zack, his voice numb.  
  
"What'll happen to him?" Max asked, the normally tough child shivering slightly.   
  
"They'll take him to the Bad Place and drink his blood. Then the Nomalies'll take him away."  
  
"The Blue Faerie- why doesn't she protect him?"  
  
"I'm going to the High Place," said Prince Ben, standing up. "I'll ask her."  
  
Ben struggled to give his younger sister a smile, and went to the slit window. A thin, fraying rope hung from the tower roof, and bravely, Ben began to climb it.   
  
Case dithered behind for a second- he seriously doubted whether the rope would even support Prince Ben's weight, let alone his. Nevertheless, Case was champion of the rope-climb in PE, and followed Ben to the roof.   
  
He watched from the edge of the shingles as Ben walked around with the air of a broken man, though he was only ten years old.   
  
On the roof, on a stone block from which flew a proud banner, was a shred of parchment. Case looked over Ben's shoulder at an illuminated picture of the parchment. It was a woman in a blue robe, a holy look on her face, holding a luminous wand in a slender hand. Sparkling wings fluttered from her back. The Blue Faerie.   
  
Ben looked sadly at her picture and Case could see tears sliding from his closed eyes. "Jack..." he muttered, and pressed a fist to his face, unfurling the fingers and trying to get rid of stinging tears.   
  
All in a second, he looked to the sky and screamed out to the stars above.   
  
"WHY?! What did we do wrong? We believe in you!"  
  
Case jumped. There seemed to be a commotion down below, of children running to snuff out lights and dive into beds before the door burst open and human guards swarmed in.   
  
And a guard appeared, having climbed the rope. More scrambled onto the roof, heavily armed. With a hopeless look in his eyes, Ben began to back up, dangerously toward the edge of the tower.   
  
Case panicked. This was a familiar scene from films he'd watched, but this was all too real. Ben stepped backwards-  
  
And Case grabbed at his arm. In a second he realised how stupid that was, how his fingers would go straight through the prince, but in an amazing turn of events he could actually feel himself holding Prince Ben's arm.   
  
Ben seemed to teeter for a moment, supported by some invisible force. Case hauled him up. Almost the second the prince found his balance, the soldiers pounced on him. It was a horrible thing to see, eight fully-grown men viciously beating a young boy. Case watched numbly as he was taken back down the rope and into the castle again.  
  
He followed. A soldier barked at the young royals to stay in their beds as they dragged Ben from the tower, his family's sanctuary.   
  
All was quiet.   
  
Max climbed slowly from her bed and went to the door, slipping through. Almost instinctively, Case left too.   
  
The staircases and passages Princess Max took seemed to go on forever. Max looked like she was looking for something- or someone.   
  
In the dank dungeons was where the young girl found what she was looking for. Case felt his stomach twist in revulsion.   
  
A crowd of Nomalies stood around the limp form of Prince Jack, who hung from the ceiling by his neck as though lynched. What was really disturbing was the fact that his throat was slit and cackling Nomaly guards held their wooden cups to his wound, drinking his blood, little by little.   
  
Max looked almost as repulsed as Case felt, so sickened and nauseated and yet so terribly angry.  
  
There were screams from the other end of the hallway. It was Ben. "Don't give me to the Nomalies! IF YOU EVER LOVED ANY OF US AT ALL, DON'T GIVE ME TO THEM!" He was reduced to frightened sobbing. "I'm a good person. I try so hard. Please don't give me up to them."  
  
Max grimaced. "Ben..." she whispered. A Nomaly grunted from within the room and Max ran away into the darkness.  
  
Case awoke, drenched in sweat. He hadn't been this affected by a dream since he was a toddler, and kept imagining Ben nearly falling to his death, and Jack hanging in the darkness.  
  
And in the bland boredom of class he thought he still heard Max crying.  
  
* * *  
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to Fox and James Cameron. Not me. So don't sue. 


	4. Chapter Four: Run If You Want To Survive

Case's fourth dream concerning the Manticore children scared, saddened and delighted him. One moment he sat up late watching a police drama on television, the next, there was darkness. He found himself in the children's tower quarters, and in the beginnings of a dire situation.  
  
"MAX!" cried Jondy, as Princess Max convulsed on the floor.   
  
It was night, and snow fell past the window. Case watched as the children gathered around her.   
  
The door burst open, and two human guards ran in to take Max away.   
  
There were gasps. Suddenly-  
  
With a yell of rage, Prince Zack picked up a sword and swung out at the guards. One became afraid and ran down the stairs, but the other tried to fight back.   
  
He smacked the soldier on the head with the blunt side of his sword, knocking him out, and ran to see to Princess Max.   
  
"What are we going to do now?" asked someone.   
  
"Follow me."  
  
Everyone looked at Princess Eva, who nocked an arrow to her bowstring. She looked at them with purpose. "Let all those who hate this place and want their freedom take up their weapons and follow me! Follow me!" she yelled, and there were cheers.   
  
Case followed them to the weapons chest. Princess Tinga elbowed the bigger ones out of the way to make sure Princess Brin had a sword, which looked almost comical in her tiny hands.   
  
They swarmed out of the tower and down the stairs. All except Prince Zack and the princesses Jondy and Max had weapons in their hands, but only Eva ran at the front.  
  
They were in a hallway with slit windows that let streams of wintery light into the half-darkness. Through the gloom, Case could see a huge tapestry hanging from the wall of some giant mythical creature with the body of a lion and the leering face of an old man.  
  
There was a blaze of light. Everyone skidded to a halt. Princess Tinga stood nearby the back, and it was only at this second that Case realised he was next to her. Although he was taller than everyone except 205 Boy, he went onto his tiptoes to see what was happening.  
  
There stood King Lydecker, armed human soldiers and Nomaly guards with ropes of saliva dangling from their crooked, razor-sharp fangs. It was still as a tomb, like some ghastly tableau.  
  
Eva stood alone, her face set, but her arrow quivering. Case could suddenly feel how terrified she was. Princess Eva felt a helpless, pure terror so great it obscured her from thinking anything but four simple words.   
  
What am I doing? Case heard these words as though Eva herself had whispered them into his ear.  
  
The King had a bow and arrow too. And there was a twang of bowstring. Eva was struck in the chest with an evil poisoned arrow and fell backwards onto the cold floor. She had been killed instantly.  
  
Her arrow slid across the floor, halting a little way in front of Princess Max, who seemed to have recovered. Her eyes were glazed with sadness.   
  
Case saw Princess Brin duck her head slightly to see as Princess Eva fell. She closed her eyes as if trying to block this awful image.   
  
He looked to Tinga. Her mouth fell open and her eyes filled with tears. Tinga's bottom lip quivered like some child who had witnessed the brutal murder of a sister she'd loved so dearly, and not a warrior and a princess who had to be brave for her family.   
  
Then she seemed to steel herself. And there came over her face and all the children's faces a universal look of such terrible rage and grief that Case himself was frightened.   
  
Led by Prince Zack, the royals ran forward. Weapons upon weapons, there was a clash unlike any Case had ever seen before. Men had been slain by these angelic children, whose features were twisted in anger.   
  
Case even saw Prince Krit take on a Nomaly, running him through. "Kill my sister, will you? Murder my brother Jack?"  
  
They ran. Case ran too, although why he couldn't say. He knew they couldn't see him.   
  
Zack stopped, at the head of the line. He peeked around a corner and tipped over a huge ornate armchair in the hall, revealing yet another secret passageway. The children dropped onto their hands and knees to crawl through.   
  
Princess Jace suddenly looked very apprehensive. She stood still as Princess Max crouched, preparing to crawl inside. Max turned around and beckoned her furiously.   
  
Jace shook her head, her breath coming short, and backed away as though Max was a monster.   
  
Case followed the children through the tunnel to another hallway. They ran through a giant kitchen the size of his school cafeteria, some slowing to snatch bread or cuts of meat from long tables. Then Zack threw a small, modest wooden door open.   
  
The children swarmed through, swinging swords and maces in the air and looking grimly determined. This was obviously some kind of escape route in case the castle was attacked.   
  
Case jumped the cracked steps, which were covered with moss and grass. Children zigzagged away into the snowy night, alone. For some reason he found himself following the princess Tinga.   
  
Tinga bolted through the trees, striding and jumping wide. Her breathing was ragged and came sharply. Case struggled to keep up. She ran faster than anyone he'd ever seen.   
  
These children were obviously of some incredible stock- great athletes, great warriors, fast and strong and intelligent. They had just masterminded a daring escape from the colossal fortress of a tyrant king, for God's sakes!   
  
Tinga stopped in some secret clearing, where Zack already stood. Slowly, it filled up with children. One girl arrived gasping, with her arm bleeding. A Nomaly had caught her and she'd been forced to abandon her weapon (a crossbow) to him.  
  
The air was tense. Everyone ducked against the ground as they heard footfalls after a long wait, but it was only Max, followed closely by Princess Jondy.   
  
Tinga put her arms around a shivering Brin. Princess Brin's gown was already soaking- she'd obviously tripped and fallen in the snow.  
  
Zack stood up. He tapped his right pointer and middle fingers against his left palm, and the children assembled closer together, two girls and three boys still hiding behind trees a short way away, weapons at the ready.  
  
He brought his right hand up at a right angle to his body, two fingers raised. Prince Zack then counted all of the children and frowned.   
  
Max looked somewhat sad as she executed a series of complicated signs ending with a shake of her head.   
  
Prince Zack sighed and continued. He tapped his fingers against the back of his left hand before cutting his fingers across his throat.   
  
Finally, Zack held up two fingers and pointed to Princess Syl and Prince Krit, who nodded and ran off together. He was pairing off his siblings to escape.   
  
Case watched intently until he pointed to Brin and Tinga. Tinga pulled Brin up and the two of them fled.  
  
They ran through the forest, wild-eyed, terrified. Case could barely keep up. A battle seemed to still rage in the trees, as they heard the clashes of swords against swords. Case heard a voice that sounded like Prince Krit bellow, "She SAID down on the ground!" followed by a scream of pain.   
  
Tinga's own crossbow dangled from her hand.   
  
Princess Brin surged ahead, and Tinga roughly grabbed her by the arm as some human soldiers on horseback galloped past.  
  
Still with fear, Brin looked up at her big sister, who used one of Prince Zack's signs. She tapped her right pointer and middle fingers against her left palm.  
  
They ran. Case skidded to a halt to avoid smacking into Princess Brin, wondering why. There was a high stone wall.   
  
Tinga paced up and down a moment before pulling an arrow out of a quiver on her back and untying a length of rope she'd looped around her waist when last she'd been in the home tower. She tied the rope to the end of the arrow and slid it into the bow. Raising her crossbow, the young princess put it at a peculiar angle and then shot.  
  
The arrow soared true over the wall. Case couldn't see where it landed. Tinga tugged on the rope, making sure it was secure, before offering it hurriedly to Princess Brin. Brin's sword swung from a sheath at her hip.   
  
Brin began to climb. Princess Tinga looked around skittishly and murmured to her sister, who disappeared over the wall. Tinga scaled the rope and hopped over the wall, doing a neat forward roll into the snow.   
  
Case followed, just able to catch up with the escaping girls. They ran through dense forest before appearing on a road. Case found himself standing a long way away. He could just make them out in the darkness.   
  
They'd escaped. He couldn't believe it. He wanted to charge over to the girls and hug them like little sisters; he wanted to comfort and congratulate them, although it was impossible. They couldn't see him...  
  
"You there! Boy!"  
  
Case started. "Yea, milady?" he said, feeling this to be an appropriate way of addressing the young Princess Tinga.   
  
"Art thou from the village, peasant boy?"  
  
"I am, Your Highness," Case replied, unable to believe that he was actually talking with Tinga.  
  
"Which way be it?"  
  
A giant cart drawn by a packhorse approached creakily along the road.  
  
"Right along the road, ma'am. T'won't take ye long to reach it, and there's a tavern where they would gladly give you shelter." Case had no idea why these words were coming out of his mouth.   
  
"Good lad," said Tinga with a regal air. "Now run along home to your mother, peasant boy, before she does worry for your safety."  
  
"Oh no!" cried Princess Brin in fear, pointing to where some human soldiers emerged onto the path. They ran to jump into the back of the cart.   
  
Case let his breath escape. They were truly safe.   
  
And just as they were taken to the safe haven of the village, he heard Brin's bewildered whisper to Tinga.   
  
"Where did the boy go?"  
  
* * *   
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to Fox and James Cameron. Not me. So don't sue.   
  
NOTE: OK, I have a couple of notes for you all. Firstly, I would like to personally thank dleep for pointing out the discrepancy that Case fell asleep at school and woke up at home. I was very tired when I finished off Chapter Three and didn't notice that. I have edited it so that Case wakes up in the same place. Sorry, everyone!  
  
Also, I am sorry I have not stuck to the actual '09 escape flashback in one way. Of course, there are lots of ways I haven't stuck to it in order to transfer the setting from 2009 Wyoming to a nameless medieval land, like the fact that the children are carrying weapons, or the Blue FAERIE, or the fact that they escaped through a door instead of a window.   
  
The one that I am actually apologising for is the fact that Eva does her whole heroic little speech thing before leading her siblings from the tower. I actually paraphrased her line (which, for all you people who can't be stuffed scrolling up, is, "Let all those who hate this place and want their freedom take up their weapons and follow me! Follow me!") from a line by Joan of Arc in the film 'The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc'. You see, I really like that film and I see Eva as a sort of Joan of Arc-y figure in this fic. The actual line, which I've got off IMDB so don't blame me if it's wrong, is, "This morning God gave us a great victory, but it is nothing compared to what he is ready to give us now. I know you are all tired and hungry, but I swear to you that even if these English were hanging from the clouds by their fingertips we would pull them down before nightfall. Now let all those who love me... follow me! Follow me!"  
  
Thank you to all of you who have a) ploughed through all these insipid author's notes and/or b) reviewed this fic. You rule! 


	5. Chapter Five: Who Is The Lady Penelope?

"Case- wait!"  
  
Case turned at the sound of Tamia Benson's voice. Tamia was one of Jodie's posse, and he expected to find them together. But she stood alone. She was laughing.  
  
"Yeah?" They stood on a quiet suburban street- Case had chosen to walk home. To think.   
  
She grinned. "Case, I have something to ask you."  
  
"Ask. I have to get home."  
  
"Ooh, touchy. Is Ickle Casey getting tired of being bigger than Jesus?"  
  
Case rolled his eyes. He didn't know which was worse- girls who worshipped the ground he walked on or girls who knew just how to piss him off.   
  
"Yes?"  
  
Tamia rolled her eyes, but in a good-natured way, as if she couldn't believe what she was doing. She kept laughing as she spoke. "Jodie wants me... she wants me..."  
  
"She wants you to what?"  
  
"Jodie wants me to ask you to the dance," said Tamia, giggling.   
  
"You?" It astonished Case that Jodie and Tamia were even friends. Tamia was tough, street smart and dedicated. She spurned current fashions for baggy jeans and sweatshirts and once had led a sit-in at school because they wouldn't allow a student who had been expelled four years before to speak about the dangers of drug use.   
Jodie, on the other hand, was... delusional.  
  
"Weird, huh? She says I'm the only girl she can trust to get the 411 on you, my man, without getting close to you in the process."  
  
"Was that a compliment?"  
  
"You know, I'm really not sure."  
  
"Thanks but no thanks."  
  
"Hold on, Case. I'm not leaving you alone until you say yes. Jodie promised to pay me forty dollars if I got you to go out with me." She gave a small, wistful, un-Tamialike smile. "She's got some crush on you, Case."  
  
"She is PAYING you to go out with me?"  
  
"Ain't that precious?" smirked Tamia. "Come on, Case. It'll be a laugh."  
  
"Well..." said Case, thinking. "OK. It'll be a laugh."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Bye," both said at the same time, and turned in different directions.   
  
"Hey, Tamia!" he yelled. "How do I call you to talk about the dance?"  
  
"My phone number's 555 3865!" she called to him across the street, and left.   
  
Case wandered around until he found himself at the park, and lay down on the grass, looking up at the afternoon sky. So. Tamia Benson had just asked him to the dance.  
  
Wow.   
  
He closed his eyes...  
  
Case found himself standing in a village square. There was a great deal of noise and dirt, as people pushed back and forth to get to the vendors yelling out there wares. It was late afternoon on a market day.  
  
He knew that Princess Tinga was nearby, somehow, and boldly approached a burly man who was chortling with numerous cronies. Once again, strange words billowed from his mouth. "Good sirs, might you know where I can find the girl named Tinga?"  
  
The man frowned, raising bushy eyebrows. "Tinga?"  
  
"Or Brin?" he asked.   
  
"Describe this Tinga, boy."  
  
Case wondered where to begin. "She has dark eyes and skin and she's really beautiful, and-"  
  
Shock administered on the man's face. Suddenly, he shoved Case. "Are you talking about the Lady Penelope?" he challenged.   
  
"I don't know."  
  
"He's talking about the Lady, all right. She goes by many a name, and 'tis no woman in our fair town spoken of so reverently as the Lady Penelope," simpered a rattish young man at the back.  
  
"Woman?" asked Case in confusion. "No, you misunderstand; the girl I speak of is only ten years old."  
  
The man did not appear to listen and suddenly, Case was knocked off his feet. All the men started in on him, beating and kicking at him. Women watched from doorways but made no effort to intervene. They seemed absolutely sick of men fighting over this Penelope.   
  
"Stay away from the Lady," growled the man, and was interrupted by one of his men.   
  
"What would the Lady Penelope want with a skinny boy, anyhow? She must marry someday, and it will not be to this runt," snapped another, and they laughed trollishly as one.   
  
All at once, just as Case felt ready to pass out, he felt himself being dragged to his feet. A strong but feminine arm held him up, and he heard a voice talk concernedly to him. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yes," said Case, and slumped.   
  
"Lady Penelope!" said the head man in shock, and the men scrambled away from her, tipping their ragged caps and bowing their heads as though they stood before a goddess.   
  
"You impudent knaves swore your lives to me in the promise that I would choose to marry one of you, and promised great deeds in my name. Yet I find you beating this young boy? Is this your great deed?" asked the Lady Penelope.   
  
The rattish man spoke. "He called you Tinga, milady...?"  
  
Case felt the woman defending him stiffen. Yet she spoke in her same proud tones. "Fools! Do you think this an insult against my honour? This be'th my young cousin, and he does call me by a baby name. 'Tis sentimentality, and nothing more!"  
  
There were gasps. "Oh, Lady Penelope, if we had only known..." whined the head man.   
  
"You did not seem interested in finding out," she said coldly. "Be removed from my sight, you rogues. I wish no more of you."  
  
Case seemed to wake up on a lumpy bed in a smallish room. As his focus cleared, he realised a woman sat on his bed and sponged at his forehead.   
  
"Lady Penelope?" he asked weakly.   
  
"I know not how you hath uncovered my true identity and true name. How much do you know, my boy?"  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
She came fully into focus. "Why, I am Tinga."  
  
And he realised it was her. She was a woman, and so beautiful he couldn't begin to describe her. Her innocent and worldly prettiness at ten was nothing compared to her features now. Her black hair had grown ever longer, and even in common clothes she looked regal.  
  
Yet Case knew at a second's sight that he was not attracted to her. He felt toward her as a brother, or a child to a defender. He was proud and happy, and nothing more.  
  
"I have questions for you. Why do you call yourself Penelope?"  
  
Tinga laughed softly. "Mighty men pursue me. I cannot use the name my heart chose, for it might lead me to my doom at their hands."  
  
Case thought to be discreet. "Why do you call yourself a Lady?"  
  
"That is a nickname crafted by those devious village men. They say my beauty be'th so renowned that I should be royalty and birds should sing at the sound of my voice."  
  
"That's... nice."  
  
She snorted. "Hardly. They admire me only for my beauty, nothing more. I would kill them if the need arose. They are but followers and I do not heed them. There is the more pressing matter of you. What be your name?"  
  
For some reason, Case told her his name was Zachary.   
  
"Zachary. A great name. I have a brother named Zack. Just Zack, mind you. Like I am only Tinga. Tell me, boy, how you know my name?"  
  
"I'm... tired..." moaned Case, feeling suddenly wretched.   
  
"Poor lad," said Princess Tinga gently. "It is important that you rest. I am to meet a friend of mine in town, so you sleep."  
  
When Case felt himself next wake up, he could see Tinga and a man whose back was to him. They sat at opposite ends of a small wooden table in the middle of the floor. He opened his eyes just the smallest bit.   
  
"So how is it you can fight so well, Penelope?"  
  
"My father was one of the greatest warriors who ever lived. He taught me well," she said softly.   
  
"And here I sit, talking with his daughter. Incredible. Tell me about your childhood, Penelope. You have told me almost nothing."  
  
She hesitated. "Are you sure you want to know?"  
  
"Absolutely."  
  
There was a pause. "Charles, I tell you all of this because I have never felt so strongly for any man. I am not an ordinary woman. I am a princess."  
  
She went recklessly on. "My mother was executed when I was a baby and I never knew my father. I watched from a window as she died. A tyrant king, King Lydecker, kept my siblings and I prisoner inside his castle. Manticore Castle, in the country of Wyominia. Evil monsters called Nomalies lurked in the dungeons and we were constantly on the run from their power. They killed us if we were slow. Magicians monitored our movements and struck us with a shaking sickness if we misbehaved. We lived in constant fear."  
  
"Penelope?" he asked in shock.   
  
"I am not called Penelope. I am Princess Tinga. Princess Tinga of the Protecting Few. My parents reigned before Lydecker took hold of the castle. When I was ten, we escaped. Three children died before we could. My brother, Prince Danny, was accidentally killed by my sister the princess Syl. Prince Jack, who was given to the Nomalies. And my dear little sister Princess Eva. I have met up with my brother Prince Zack, and he tells me we're to call her Princess Eva of the Heavenly Arrow now. She died for us. It is her sacrifice that made it possible for me to be sitting here right now. I would not have survived to my present age in that place."  
  
The man called Charles seemed unable to speak. "I have to go," he said quietly. He started toward the door.  
  
"Charles?" she said. Case heard the tone of a frightened, rejected child in her voice. "Charles, don't go."  
  
"Pe- Ti- whoever you are. I cannot see you any more."  
  
Princess Tinga began to cry. "By the Blue Faerie..." she muttered, and began to laugh nervously. It sounded like she was sobbing.  
  
"What can you possibly find funny?" asked Charles coldly.  
  
"It's... a joke, Charles. Oh, the look on your face!"  
  
He stopped. "A joke? That whole horrific story was a joke?"  
  
"Yes, Charles. I- I was making sport of you."  
  
He let out a breath. "By God, Penelope, you have a twisted sense of humour. But I forgive you."  
  
Case saw a hopeful smile dawn on Tinga's face. "You do?"  
  
"Yes." Charles walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm sorry I made you cry."  
  
"All part of the joke, dear one."  
  
"When will I see you again?"  
  
"Next week?" she asked coyly.   
  
From Case's viewpoint it looked like the man Charles was smiling. "All right. I wait on bated breath, Penelope."  
  
He let himself out after a few minutes. Princess Tinga looked after him. A look of great anger, the tiredness of a woman three times her age washed over her. "God, I love him. I am a fool," she said thickly, and pulled a locked box on the table toward her. Out of it she took a dulled diamond tiara- the one she had been wearing during the escape.   
  
Princess Tinga cradled it in her hands a moment before sighing and beginning to cry again.   
  
Case jolted awake, truly this time. It was getting dark. He swatted away mosquitos and made his way home. He couldn't get over Princess Tinga's latest appearance. That poor woman.  
  
He sat and drew a picture of her. It took a long time to get it just right, and even when he achieved just the effect he wanted he couldn't feel happy.   
  
He needed something to distract him.   
  
Case sat down with the cordless phone and punched 555 3865 into the keypad.   
  
"Hey Tamia? It's Case. Yeah. Really? OK. I wanted to talk about the dance..."  
  
* * *   
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to Fox and James Cameron. Not me. So don't sue. 


	6. Chapter Six: Family Developments

Case watched as Princess Tinga exited the village bakery, holding a small boy by the hand and glaring at a few coins in her hand.   
  
"Look at this! Another pay cut! How do they expect our family to live on this?"  
  
"Are we gonna go hungry again, Mommy?" asked the little boy, looking up at her with big dark eyes.   
  
Tinga seemed to melt at the child's weary, unhappy tone. "Like hell. Come on, baby."  
  
She grabbed a metal bucket by the door and overturned it, standing the boy behind it. "Can you get everyone's attention for me? We're going to make our money the easy way."  
  
"Yes, Mommy."  
  
"Good boy. Pray, give me your cap."  
  
The child handed Princess Tinga his cap.  
  
"Start, please."  
  
The little child began to pound his fists on the upturned bucket, loudly enough for people to stop and listen. As soon as she had their attention, Tinga began to sing.   
  
People began to stop. Granted, she wasn't the stereotypical sultry songstress of cartoons. But she wasn't a half-bad singer.   
  
Tinga was no ordinary princess.  
  
"I can't believe this was love at first sight `cause it feels like it's over- or maybe it's me...? Something you said or you did or you wanted. Money can't buy and it just isn't free."  
  
Tinga kept singing for a few more minutes while her little boy tentatively kept beat. As she ended the song, the crowd whooped and threw money into the boy's cap.   
  
"Thank you, good neighbours! You honour us!" called Princess Tinga, catching coins.   
  
"Is that money for dinner, Mommy?" asked her boy stoically.   
  
"Of course it is, child. I'll never let you go hungry. Come on, let's go and salvage something at the vegetable stall-" Suddenly, Tinga spotted Case. "By the Blue Faerie," she whispered. "Zachary! Over here, Zachary!"  
  
"Tinga, milady," said Case. "How are you?"  
  
"I haven't seen you in almost six years. Let me get a look at you." She frowned. "They're not feeding you very well, are they? You've hardly grown."  
  
"Who's this?" Case asked the princess.   
  
"This is my baby," said Princess Tinga proudly, picking up the little boy. "Case Michael Smith, the smartest little boy in all of Portlandshire."  
  
"I'm not a BABY any more, Mommy," protested the child. "The church even pays for me to go to school."  
  
"Of course you're not," said his mother soothingly. "Hark, Casey. Why don't you go and pick what we eat for dinner tonight?"  
  
"'K, Mommy," replied Little Case, taking the coins they had got moments earlier and running off.  
  
Case stared in shock after the boy. That kid- excepting the clothes and medieval haircut- looked an AWFUL lot...  
  
Like him at the same age. In fact, he looked exactly like him at the same age. They even had identical names. There was Case Michael Smith, born in Portland to Penny and Charlie Smith...  
  
And a Case Michael Smith born in Portlandshire to 'Penelope' and Charles Smith.  
  
What was going on here?  
  
Case wanted to scream this at Princess Tinga, who was gazing after her son with a mixture of loving pride and apprehension. All Case could manage to say was, "You're going to let your five-year-old do the shopping for you?"  
  
"Why not?" asked Tinga quietly. "He's a smart lad. Actually, his brains are not exactly a coincidence."  
  
"Princess?" asked Case.  
  
She looked shrewdly at Case. "My family are not actually my family- at least, my brothers and sisters from the Manticore Castle. In the days before we were born, Wyominia was ruled peacefully by many kings and queens who resided in the Manticore Castle. Their infant children were to be brought up as brothers and sisters as they themselves had been. But they were executed and we were left to fend for ourselves. I was the oldest girl, so I played the role of mother."  
  
"I gathered that when I saw the obvious differences between you and your siblings."  
  
"Yes," said Princess Tinga. "The princes Zack and Zane and the princess Syl are actual siblings, as are Krit and Max, and the princesses Brin and Iria. Brin and Iria are actually unidentical twins, although they were not particularly close."  
  
Her voice quietened as she said this. "You miss Princess Brin, don't you?" asked Case.  
  
"Yea," she said. "It is not that mundane, Zachary. I miss her most of all. I miss her so much grown men in distant lands would weep if they felt what I am feeling for only a moment. I worry after her every single day. I was her mother, her sister, her best friend."  
  
"But what about your little Case's intelligence?" asked he.  
  
"My parents were of an incredible stock. All of our parents were. They were most fine athletes, so strong and quick and intelligent they could have won a war all by themselves. I inherited their gifts firsthand. I fear my baby Case also has some of their blood. It is not as noticeable in him. He is just an exceptionally bright child."  
  
She smiled wistfully. "Do you know that he attends school with boys twice his age? He's going to go into a trade, his teachers say, and become rich. They dote on him."  
  
All this was beginning to sound oddly familiar to Case...  
  
Suddenly, Tinga took him by the hand and pulled him over to the vegetable stall, where Little Case held up a string bag.  
  
"Look, Mommy!"  
  
"Very nice. Have you got enough for four, Case?"  
  
"For four? Me plus you plus Dad. That makes three, Mommy. You added wrong."  
  
"No, I didn't. Cousin Zachary is coming for dinner," said Princess Tinga, gesturing to Case.   
  
"Oh."   
  
Case suddenly found himself sitting at a rough wooden table in a tiny house, eating soup out of a bowl. Princess Tinga sat there, with Little Case on her lap, talking to... Charlie.  
  
And suddenly Case realised that Charles was the man who had nearly broken it off with Tinga when she had told him about her past. They were married now? They had a son?  
  
"More soup, Zachary?" asked Princess Tinga amiably.   
  
"Pray, this feels like my fourth bowl."  
  
"Fifth," said Little Case, toying with his spoon.   
  
"Case; eat your food properly," said Charlie.   
  
"I'm full."  
  
Tinga suddenly tensed. "Charles, I just remembered I left something outside. Zachary, would you be so kind as to come and help me?"  
  
"I'll come, Mommy," said Little Case.   
  
"No, you and your father are eating. Sit, sit. We'll just be a moment."  
  
Charles shrugged and went back to talking with his son. As Case stood up, he couldn't help but notice that Tinga surreptitiously snatched a scarf from a hook by the doorway as she left.   
  
"What troubles you, princess?" asked Case, but Princess Tinga put a finger to her lips.   
  
"Shhh, dear boy. It's probably nothing. I-"  
  
Suddenly, there was a commotion. Princess Tinga gasped and retreated into the shadows. Case peered around a corner.   
  
The house where the little family lived was in a small neighbourhood choked with other, identical houses. A young woman with a burning torch stood in the middle of a small square, calling to people who were exiting their homes.   
  
"... I want all the women of this village to come out here and line up with their backs to us and their hair swept neatly out of the way. There is most likely nothing to concern yourselves with."  
  
"What do you mean by women?" called a buck-toothed girl trailing a small sister.  
  
She smiled grimly. "All the women over the age of twenty. More specifically, we are looking for women around the age of twenty-one, although the one we are looking for may have disguised her age."  
  
Young women began coming from their homes. Some had already retired to bed by this time and exited rubbing at their eyes and groaning. A couple came with small children on their hips or cooking pots dangling from their hands.  
  
Case turned to Tinga. Suddenly, all this seemed very familiar. "They're searching for ye, milady."  
  
"Yes," said Tinga. She ducked down and pulled a sword from a hidden place under the house. They watched the proceedings in scared silence.   
  
"No. No, no, you can go, you can go also- there HAS to be more women!" hissed the woman, flanked by many other soldiers. The woman was dressed in various pieces of armour over a dress. She was walking along checking the back of each woman's neck and then sending her back to her homes. "Check the houses over there! Maybe she sleeps."  
  
Tinga gave a frightened yelp and Case suddenly saw the child in her. She bolted, sword in hand.  
  
Case resisted the urge to call to her and ran to the woman leading the other soldiers. "You say, good people, you search for a young woman with something on the back of her neck? Pray, what exactly?"  
  
At a nod of confirmation from her superior, the female soldier spoke to Case. "'Tis a brand, boy. Specifically the number six hundred and fifty-six. Have you seen her? She be'th a criminal, wanted for murder and fraud. The good King Lydecker of Wyominia wishes to bring her to justice."  
  
She was dark too, and wore a coat of arms with a manticore on it. In fact, she looked an awful lot like...  
  
Dear God, thought Case. It's Princess Jace! She must be twenty or something. Has she been at the Manticore Castle all this time?  
  
"Really?" said Case, faking interest. "There be'th a woman... blonde, blue-eyed. She never shows any part of her neck. She does live over there." He pointed vaguely to a place far from Tinga's home with her son and husband.  
  
"Ah, no," said Jace. "The woman we search for is dark-haired and dark-skinned."  
  
Damn. She couldn't be tricked.  
  
"Well, I also saw a woman-"  
  
"We've got a lead!" yelled an armed soldier on horseback, galloping past. "West, nearby the well!"  
  
DAMN.   
  
Case ran as fast as he could to catch up. The man halted his steed nearby a cart, covered with a cloth. A crowd of soldiers and neighbours stood around, waiting anxiously for this criminal to be apprehended.   
  
Case skidded to an abrupt stop, and bit hard on his lip as the soldier inched toward the cart.  
  
He whipped off the cloth. Tinga, a yell of rage and pent-up energy escaping her, jumped up. To the gasps of the crowd, she ran him through with her sword and jumped down, sprinting away into the darkness of the surrounding streets.  
  
It was a few minutes before Case could find the princess again. She stood alone, her back to a building, surrounded by a thin semicircle of armed soldiers. The fear showed in her eyes but she steeled herself and held up her fists like a boxer.  
  
They were surely going to kill her. For Case had no doubt these soldiers were from King Lydecker.   
  
He closed his eyes, trying to block out what surely would be her dying screams.   
  
Then, there were yells of surprise.   
  
Two people broke the circle by galloping onto the scene on the back of a horse. One jumped off, holding the reins of the horse to calm it while the other jumped down as well.   
  
The one holding the horse still was a tall man- about six foot tall- with blonde hair. He had a sword. He nodded at Princess Tinga and tossed her a crossbow, which she caught easily.  
  
The other person was a younger woman. Her hair was shoulder-length and curly, different shades of brown and red however it caught the light. She wore a chain mail vest over her dress and held a mace in her hand.   
  
Princess Tinga looked at them in astonishment before giving them both a wonderful smile. Then her battle face took her features once more, and she was back in the game.   
  
It was incredible. In less than a few minutes, Tinga and her allies managed to knock out or kill every single soldier. None rode the horse, but it cantered after them as they left.   
  
Case followed silently.   
  
He found them by the edge of the village. With them stood another man.   
  
"Where did you get the horse?" asked Tinga, patting it.   
  
"Stole it," said the blonde man shortly.   
  
The other man gave them a rueful look. "Is everybody in your family a thief?" he said to the second woman.   
  
She looked very familiar to Case. Those eyes... that face...  
  
And the man. He seemed protective, warlike-  
  
Case froze. Prince Zack and Princess Max?  
  
"Has the horse been rested?" asked Princess Max.   
  
"It has."  
  
"Should get us to the Canadinian border. We can sell it there," observed Tinga, walking around the steed. She prepared to climb on. Then she seemed to remember Max. "What about you?"  
  
"She's going back to Seattleton," said Zack, taking the reins to lead the horse.   
  
Princess Tinga seemed surprised. "You're not coming with us?"   
  
"Don't bother," snapped Prince Zack.   
  
"Lydecker's-" began Tinga.   
  
Zack interrupted her. "I SAID don't bother."   
  
Tinga sighed as if weary of his ridiculousness and hugged Max tightly, as if trying to imprint everything about her into her memory with one embrace. "You take care of yourself, baby sister."   
  
"You, too," said Max.   
  
Princess Tinga climbed onto the horse and began to trot away, Zack walking alongside.   
  
Case wanted to run after her and beg her not to leave. This felt so familiar...  
  
"Case, wake up!"  
  
"No," muttered Case. "No, Tinga..."  
  
"Trust you to fall asleep before a school dance," said someone dryly. Case opened his eyes. He was slumped on his couch at home. His dad and Tamia stood over him.  
  
That was right. The dance. Charlie's car was in the shop, so Tamia's dad had offered to drive.  
  
"Wow," he said. "You're dressed like... like..."  
  
"A girl?" offered Tamia, and laughed. "Yeah, I know. Hey, check this out!" She held up a small fake nose stud. "I'm gonna put it in when there aren't any teachers around. Cool, huh?"  
  
Case felt oddly separated from the conversation, even as he volunteered answers. He thought about Princess Tinga as he climbed into Tamia's dad's car.   
  
She seemed ever more like his long-dead mother. Same name, same husband, even same kid. She even lived in a place called Portlandshire, for God's sakes.   
  
Perhaps that was why it felt like he was losing her again as he had watched her ride away.  
  
* * *   
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to Fox and James Cameron. Not me. So don't sue.   
  
NOTE: The song that Tinga sings- at least the lyrics- are 'Cinderella' by Shakaya. Think of it as some kind of folk ballad with the same lyrics. I just heard the song and thought of this fic. 'Cause I made Tinga and the other X5 sisters into princesses, but I like to think that they're kick-ass princesses.   
  
The end is nigh! This MAY WELL BE the second-last chapter. 


	7. Chapter Seven: An Odd Situation

The dance had gone pretty well. Case hadn't got to dance with Tamia much- Jodie kept ambushing her whenever she so much as looked in her direction, thinking she had something to say. When they finally did get to dance... they had fun.   
  
"OK, the first question I'm s'posed to ask you is what food you like," yelled Tamia over the music.  
  
Case considered this. "Basically anything that isn't drenched in cheese sauce, though thank God it's hard to come by in post-Pulse conditions."  
  
"Ew, I hate that stuff!"  
  
"I know. Stuff on sticks are my weakness."  
  
"Like lollipops?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Tamia laughed, shielding her face as a chaperone wandered by to hide her fake nose stud. "You're too old for lollipops!"  
  
"Like I said, they're a weakness. I'm reliving my childhood through every lollipop binge."  
  
"While we're on weaknesses, what do you look for in a woman?" she asked, motioned for her friend Campbell (the DJ) to change the song.   
  
"You're supposed to ask me that?"  
  
"Yeah, she gave me a list. She made me memorise it."  
  
"She's insane!"  
  
"I know. That's why we're like THAT," she said, crossing her fingers and holding them up for Case to see.   
  
"I don't know," he said, feeling stupid. "I guess... someone cool with a sense of humour who-"  
  
"Doesn't think you're weird for having a lollipop craving?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
"I don't," she said. "I like lollipops. I'm sure you'll find some woman, SOMEWHERE who thinks lollipop fetishes are adorable."  
  
"I wouldn't call it a fetish. I don't know why Jodie keeps stalking me like this."  
  
"I wouldn't call it stalking. She's just hopelessly devoted to you."  
  
"'Hopelessly Devoted To You'?" asked Case. "What's that from again?"  
  
Tamia looked as though this was a personal insult. "It's from 'Grease', moron. I played Sandy in my drama club's production of the musical."  
  
"Who's Sandy?"  
  
"A blonde, angelic Australian cheerleader who falls for this greaser named Danny. I think the ending sucks, but there's no finer moment in motion picture history than when Sandy lights up a cigarette and says, 'Tell me about it, stud.' It's the entire reason I went for the role."  
  
"I'm not gonna ask about that. You don't look the part."  
  
"I know. I had to wear a wig."  
  
"Well, I guess she'd be OK as a friend, but I'm not looking for women right now."  
  
"Why?" laughed Tamia. "You're not gay, are you?"  
  
It was at this moment that the DJ chose to change the track. A group of people nearby gave Case and Tamia very odd looks.   
  
"Oh, wait. Jodie calls." Tamia ran over to Jodie, who was beckoning furiously.   
  
She came back a few moments later looking incredulous. "I can't believe her."  
  
"What?"  
  
"She wants me to kiss you."  
  
Case goggled at Tamia. "She's twisted."  
  
"Indeed. She says that if girls think you like me, then they won't go after you."  
  
"She seems to be the only one who's interested," observed Case.   
  
"Oh, I wouldn't say that..." muttered Tamia.   
  
"What?" asked Case.   
  
"Nothing," she said brightly. "Her mind works in strange ways, I tell ya."  
  
"If she's so much in love with me then why doesn't SHE try and abuse me?"  
  
"That hurts Tamia when you say that, honestly. Jodie thinks you're mad at her, so she feels that through thinking I harbour a grand passion for you, somehow you'll fall in love with her."  
  
"I AM mad at her!" protested Case.   
  
"Steady on, Case. Let's get this over with."  
  
"I-" began Case.   
  
"Shh, let Tamia work," said Tamia. "Oh, Case, you are the MAN!" she yelled. When a sufficient number of people had looked over, Tamia threw her arm around Case in what appeared to be an 'involved' way and kissed him on the cheek.   
  
When everyone had stop staring and gone to spread the news, she said mischievously, "You're blushing."  
  
"You are more insane that ten Jodies put together."  
  
"Relax. You need never speak to me again after tonight."  
  
"Is that an order?"  
  
"No, a prediction. You hate me."  
  
"I don't even know you," corrected Case. He paused. "But I'd like to. You're OK, Tamia."  
  
She laughed. "Ooh, lock up your daughters! Case-anova is here!"  
  
"That was lame, Tamia."  
  
"I know."  
  
All in all, it hadn't been bad. He'd had fun 'acting in love', as Tamia had put it.   
  
Is so much of it acting? asked the annoying little voice in his mind that always seemed to point out things he didn't want to hear. Case sighed. He was home now. It didn't matter.   
  
Well? insisted the voice. Is it?  
  
Shut up, thought Case in irritation.  
  
Case picked up his book and lay on his bed. The radio didn't have much on at this hour, and he flicked disinterestedly through the pages. He closed his eyes.  
  
Case found himself standing in the middle of a deserted town square- it felt like Princess Tinga's neighbourhood in Portlandshire. For some reason, he started to walk quickly towards a run-down house. Case knocked on the peeling door.   
  
There was a pause. Suddenly-  
  
"Who sent you?" hissed a dangerous voice from behind him. Someone had Case in a headlock. He choked. "WHO?" demanded the voice.   
  
"Let- me go," he spluttered.   
  
He could hear a knife being taken out of its sheath. The person, he realised, was shaking a little in fear.   
  
"Are you afraid?" asked Case in confusion.   
  
"I don't think I'm in any position to be afraid."  
  
He recognised that voice. Barely. He stiffened. "Princess Tinga?"  
  
"You're from Lydecker, aren't you? AREN'T YOU?"  
  
"Princess, it's me, Zachary!"  
  
Another pause. Tinga released him. "Zachary?" she asked.   
  
"You tried to kill me," he said, sounding oddly like a sulky child.   
  
"I apologise. I am nervous. Will you forgive me?" A hood of a robe she was wearing over her clothes covered her face.   
  
"Yes," said Case, unable to stop staring at the huge knife in her hand.   
  
"Come on, Zachary, inside. We have much to talk about."  
  
She ushered him inside the small home. The house looked fairly ordinary, shabbier than the other homes. Then she pulled away a dusty Oriental rug from the floor, revealing a trapdoor. The princess opened it.  
  
Case climbed down a ladder into a room lit by burning torches in holders on the walls. There was a broken bed with some dishevelled blankets, and the remains of a dinner on the edge of a table. There were a couple of large wooden boxes, at least the size of the weapons chest back in the home tower at Manticore Castle, filled with weapons. Case picked up a jewelled dagger, marvelling at it.   
  
"Be careful with that!" cried Princess Tinga, grabbing the blade and pulling it away from him. "The blade holds a deathly poison."  
  
"But you-" began Case. Tinga laughed.  
  
"Yet another of my parents' gifts to me, Zachary. I am immune to many poisons. Useful gift, eh?"  
  
She carefully put the dagger back and looked around.   
  
Case said in bewilderment, "Why are you here, Princess? Didn't you go to Canadinia with your brother?"  
  
Tinga gave him a questioning look. "I'm not going to ask you how you knew that, Zachary. But... I had to come back. For Charles and Case. I am the only one who can protect them from King Lydecker. As a princess once under his control, I know the way his mind works."  
  
Case frowned. "There's one thing I don't get, Princess. If your mother is dead, and probably your father too, then why do you still call yourself a princess? Shouldn't thou be... I don't know... Queen Tinga?"  
  
"Aye," said Tinga in disinterest. "'Twas decreed that when our parents died we would reign in their places. Zack, and whatever wife he chose to take- from our stock or otherwise- would reign over all of us. He is oldest. Then the oldest out of the children our generation produced would reign over the rest of the children when it came time for them to reign. But yes, I am a queen. One of many."  
  
Confused, Case asked, "Then why doest thou allow me to address you as Princess Tinga? I wouldst gladly call ye by your proper title."  
  
She nodded. "Yes- if things had gone to plan and my parents had lived and died as nature planned, then you would call me Queen Tinga. But one loses their enthusiasm for the idea of reigning over Wyominia when being one of my family includes a tyrant king ending your childhood before it had even begun. I have never been a child, not completely. Not to mention the memory of brothers and sisters lost, constantly looking over your shoulder and lying to the people you love... I know it sounds frivolous, but by remaining a princess, I get to hold onto the part of my childhood that I had to give up."  
  
"I guess it's hard being you, Princess Tinga."  
  
"'Tis."  
  
Tinga suddenly looked up as though she'd heard something. "Wait here. Do not come to my aid should I scream."  
  
She grabbed a sword. The princess scaled the ladder and opened the trapdoor, disappearing through. The trapdoor closed and for a few agonising minutes there was silence.  
  
A shriek. Tinga's shriek. Whether it was of pain or terror Case couldn't decipher. Case jumped to his feet in alarm to hear a familiar voice say urgently, "Tinga, it's me!"  
  
Tinga, followed by Princess Max, climbed back down the ladder into the secret room. "I don't believe you have met my young friend Zachary, Maxie. He knows about us- don't ask me how. I've scarcely told him a thing."  
  
"Zachary, hmm?" asked Princess Max. She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side in interest. "Pleased to meet you."  
  
"Likewise," replied Case.   
  
Princess Max turned to her sister. "Speaking of Zacks and Zacharys, where be'th our brother?"  
  
Tinga gave a snort of contempt. "I left his useless hide in snowy Canadinia."  
  
Max nodded. "He told thou you were a fool for returning, didn't he?"  
  
Both women sighed loudly. "Zachary, I hope we can count on your aid," said Princess Max. It was more an order than a question.  
  
Case spoke quietly. "I will help. I would die for Princess Tinga."  
  
"Noble words," said Max, sounding considerably unimpressed. "Tinga, we only have but one chance to liberate your son and husband."  
  
Princess Tinga considered this, leaning against the ladder with one hand. "He walks Case to his church school every morning. We could do it there."   
  
Max gave Tinga a look of encouragement. "It's going to be fine, sister."  
  
"I wanted to go back for them, Max... you know, but how could I? What if I led Lydecker to them?"  
  
"I know," said Princess Max.  
  
"I thought they would be safer this way," said Tinga unhappily.   
  
"You're going to be together again. I promise."  
  
The next thing he knew, Case stood with the two women behind a tree. It was daytime and they were in the heart of the village. Across the street, boys of all ages swarmed into a stone building beside a church, some were walked inside by their parents.   
  
Max shook her head. "... and those are just the ones we can see. Not a lot of cover. Looks like our best shot's the house."  
  
Princess Tinga gave a little gasp. A look of complete happiness came over her. "There they are."  
  
Charles was walking along the street to the church school, accompanied by Little Case. "He's beautiful," said Princess Max.   
  
"Indeed," said Case. "He reminds me of you, Princess Tinga. Has anyone ever told you that?"  
  
"Look how much he's grown," sighed Tinga rapturously.   
  
A rather unwelcome sighting interrupted the proceedings. "King Lydecker?" breathed Case in shock.   
  
It was indeed King Lydecker, dressed as a common schoolteacher. There was no grimace on his face as he quietly ushered Little Case into the school. He almost looked the part of a gentle and benign scholar.   
  
Max had to hold Tinga back as she fought to try and get to Little Case. "What in the name of the Blue Faerie is he doing here? What is he doing with my son?"  
  
"Take it easy," said Max. "Lydecker can't exactly abduct your child in the middle of class."  
  
Tinga was noticeably having a great deal of trouble keeping calm. "My baby..." she moaned fretfully.  
  
She seemed to steel herself and turned to the two of them. "It has to be tonight," she said.   
  
Night again. The three of them were inside the secret room. Tinga was helping Max put on various pieces of armour. She was already dressed for battle.   
  
"Help me," she said shortly, gesturing to her hair. Max helped her coil it up tightly so that Tinga could put on a helmet over it.   
  
Princess Tinga turned to Case, opening her visor. "Are you sure you want to come, Zachary? Shalt be dangerous for a mere youth."  
  
"He'll be fine," said Max dismissively. "All he's got to do is use this." She held up a bottle full of clear green liquid.   
  
"Run what I'm meant to do by me again, Princess Max?" asked Case in confusion.   
  
"Crack it on something hard and hide it, remember? But don't shatter it. Just crack it. We TOLD you, Zachary," said Princess Tinga edgily.   
  
"Take these," said Max, handing Case the bottle and a sword.   
  
The two women nodded at each other. Princess Tinga beckoned Case. The three of them climbed the ladder and were on their way.   
  
* * *   
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to Fox and James Cameron. Not me. So don't sue.   
  
NOTE: Never fear, dear ones. I decided I couldn't possibly cram all the events of 'Hit A Sista Back' into a single chapter, so I've decided to extend this fic a bit. So what do you think? I'm having fun writing this! 


	8. Chapter Eight: Saying Farewell Again

Case felt himself bump into Princess Max's back. "What is it?" he hissed.   
  
"Brin," said Max simply. Case looked around the corner.   
  
There were soldiers. There were a few women, though he couldn't see Jace anywhere. The one directing was a woman, of Asian descent, who was pointing whatever way troops were to go with a riding crop in her hand. Like Jace had done, she wore an armoured breastplate with a manticore on it over her dress, a helmet, boots...  
  
"Fan out over the east quarter! Team Two, follow for backup! We're taking the woman and her son. Keep it quiet!" she bellowed, walking up and down. "What are you slowing down for? Did I tell you to slow down? DID I?"  
  
Tinga's voice was thick as though she was struggling not to cry. "She's one of them now."  
  
Princess Brin. The child Tinga had been mother, sister, and best friend to. She was grown up and a traitor. It was in that moment that Case felt that all of Tinga's childhood memories of a sweet, loyal and loving sister named Brin were shattered. Even HE felt awful, and all he had ever done was watch their childhood from the corner.  
  
"Let's go," said Princess Max, who sounded almost as devastated as her older sister. The three of them crept along.   
  
"This is where we leave you," said Princess Tinga, and she gave Case's shoulder a reassuring shake. "If you haven't set off the potion in five minutes we're going to run anyway."  
  
"Come ON, Tinga!" urged Max.  
  
"Don't fail, Zachary."  
  
They stood nearby the well. Case waited until the two royals had run off before striding to the well and shaking up the contents of the vial before cracking the glass on the stone well.   
  
There seemed to be a kind of explosion inside the bottle and the cork shot out. Smoke and magical sparks began flooding out. In the space of thirty seconds the place was engulfed in smoke.   
  
"Hey!" yelled a voice. "What are you doing?"  
  
An odd flickering light, like that of fire, began to present itself along the walls of the houses. Case tugged at his collar, feeling hot as a faceless soldier began to charge over to him.   
  
"FIRE!" yelled Case, grinning and coughing. "FIRE!"  
  
"Stop that!"  
  
"FIRE! RUN, THERE'S A FIRE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!"  
  
The man reached him. Case whipped around at the last second and brought down the flat side of the sword's blade on the top of the man's head.   
  
He crumpled to the ground. Case pulled off his cape and threw it over the man so he wouldn't be seen. He doubted the smoke was deadly- why would the princesses have used it if it could kill? Case ran off to find Max and Tinga.   
  
He found Princess Tinga's house without much trouble and ran into her on his way in. Behind her were Princess Max and a shocked-looking Charles who carried Little Case in his arms. Case was wrapped in a blanket.   
  
"Zachary!" cried Princess Tinga. "Good boy. Come with us!"  
  
The group had barely rounded a corner when they ran into the thing the two princess' nightmares were made of.  
  
A Nomaly.   
  
They'd obviously brought some in for the mission of retrieving Tinga and Little Case. Max's face took on the look of a child who has just found out that every ghost story, every imagined beast; everything that had ever scared her... was real.   
  
Charles gasped at this horrendous fiend, which threw back its head and roared. Tinga looked angry.   
  
She pulled a sword from a sheath at her hip, and as she fought and the others shrank back, smoke obscuring the monster and the princess... Case could see why people would fall for her lies of being the daughter of a great warrior. Princess Tinga fought with every repressed anger inside her, every tension.   
  
But she was being beaten. It could not be intimidated, and yet Tinga bravely went at it with everything inside her. "This," she yelled, slashing at the Nomaly's gargantuan form, "is for my parents."  
  
It groaned and bared its teeth, snapping at her. It swung a giant paw into her face. She stopped it with her sword, but it pushed her toward the ground as she struggled to stand up, being crushed beneath its weight.   
  
Tinga lunged upward, taking the Nomaly by surprise. It had relaxed, thinking it had the upper hand. "THIS is for my kingdom!" Princess Tinga screamed. The Nomaly took a blow from her and gave a roar of indignation. She fell to the ground, her sword spiralling out of her reach.   
  
Case dived and caught it, looking around. He could see the silhouette of a man coming out of the smoke, and somehow knew to throw the sword to him.   
  
The man sprinted and stabbed the Nomaly in the back. A familiar voice said as the Nomaly went through its death agony, "And this is for the ones who didn't make it."  
  
Prince Zack.   
  
The two men, two women and two Cases found themselves fleeing Portlandshire and going on to Princess Max's hometown- a great, rainy city called Seattleton. Case could hardly talk as he followed Max into an impressive townhouse owned by Sir Logan Cale. Case recognised this man as one from another dream who had asked Princess Max whether everyone in her family was a thief.   
  
Case didn't know what to do with himself. He watched silently from a doorway as the princesses put Little Case to bed.   
  
"Mommy, tell me the story," asked Little Case sleepily.   
  
"What would you like to know?" asked Princess Tinga, smoothing the blankets unnecessarily.   
  
"What happened after the beautiful princess ran away from the castle?"  
  
"Well, she met her prince and they fell in love and they had a family."  
  
Little Case yawned. "Did they live happily ever after?"  
  
"I don't know, baby," said Tinga sadly. "I hope so."  
  
She kissed her sleeping child on the cheek and looked up at her sister, her eyes full of tears.   
  
Case wandered off and sat by a window, staring as the rain fell. He fell asleep. In the small hours of the morning, he was awoken by a commotion outside.   
  
"What's happening? Max?" cried Princess Tinga. Max was shrieking something Case couldn't hear.   
  
Case jumped up and ran, sore all over. He skidded into the room as the adults crowded around the limp body of Little Case, whose face was paler than snow. His cheeks had become rather red and he twitched fitfully, his eyes closed.  
  
"He's burning up," said Princess Tinga, feeling his forehead.   
  
"What's going on? Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" ranted Charles.  
  
"It's a message from King Lydecker," said Max, turning him over. Everyone gasped. Case edged forward and read words that were blooming on Little Case's skin.   
  
GIVE UP THE WOMAN TODAY AT NOON ON THE CITY COMMON AND THE BOY SHALL LIVE.  
  
"How could this happen?" said Prince Zack, who was as shocked as Case had ever seen him.  
  
"Teacher gave me sweets, Mommy," said Little Case, who fainted.   
  
"Oh, God," said Princess Tinga. There was a pause. "I'm giving myself up."  
  
"You can't!" yelled Max. "I won't let you! That's what happened to Brin, and now..."  
  
Charles seemed torn. It was his wife or his child...  
  
"I have to save him," said Tinga stubbornly.   
  
Zack intervened. "Tinga-"  
  
"It's not your choice!" she snapped.   
  
"Fine," he snarled. "FINE. Give yourself up. Be killed on account of that child." He stormed out of the room.   
  
Princess Tinga carried Little Case to an ornate sofa. Charles sat next to her. He was crying as she spoke softly to him. Max began to say something a couple of times before stalking from the room with Sir Logan. Case, numb, left as well.   
  
Half an hour later, Case crept into the room where Little Case had been put to bed. Princess Tinga was packing a bag of belongings. She shut the bag, hitched it onto her shoulder and turned around to find Case standing there.  
  
"Zachary," she said. "I... I didn't know you were there." She wiped furiously at her eyes.   
  
"Are you crying?" he asked.   
  
"I have every reason to."  
  
Case felt even more awful. "Princess Tinga-"  
  
"No. No, don't even suggest it. I have to go," she said hollowly. "It's for my son."  
  
It felt hopeless. Case was devoted to this woman. "Why?" he asked desperately.   
  
Princess Tinga fixed him with a shining stare. "I... would do anything for that child. If I had to have every bone in my body crushed, if I had to climb the highest mountain and cast myself from its peak, if any of these things would bring him an inch away from danger- I would. I have been a mother all my life, and it has served me well. My sister and brother will come for me. I believe that Zack still loves me, despite my folly."  
  
Suddenly, Case couldn't help it. He hugged her. She laughed softly in surprise and stroked at his hair. "Poor boy, my Zachary. You have been through a lot."  
  
"I don't think you're coming back," he said in despair. "Princess, I beg you, don't go."  
  
He felt her kiss him on the top of the head. "My brother and sister will come for me," she said.   
  
"You're so like my mother," he said, and he found that he was crying. "Please."  
  
"Many have said that, Zachary. And yet... I have been separated from all of them. I am no mother. Do not cry for me."  
  
She'd misunderstood. And Case opened his mouth to explain to her, to beg her again not to give herself up.   
  
"I must leave. The meeting is nigh." Princess Tinga moved toward the door.  
  
"I love you," he said.   
  
Her look to him was a sad one, regal and fraught with an untold pain. "I know. But Zachary... you shouldn't." This was her reply to him. She left.   
  
Case watched as the Smiths and Princess Max left. And he suddenly knew that he had to be there too. He, so used to this now, followed.   
  
It was on the common, from behind a tree, that Case watched the exchange. Armoured, horse-drawn carriages stood waiting. King Lydecker, in all of his bloodstained finery, stood a long way from Princess Tinga and her family. A little way behind him, before the carriages and other soldiers, was Princess Brin. Her riding crop was with her, hanging from a thin chain on her belt.   
  
Tinga kissed Charlie, then Case. Max walked forward and took a small package of something from Lydecker, bringing it back to the Smith family. She rubbed it onto the back of his neck, where the words were.   
  
Little Case seemed to perk up. "Daddy?" Case heard his young self murmur.   
  
Princess Brin ran forward, grabbed Tinga by the arm and dragged her along, towards an armoured carriage. She held the door open for her older sister and waited until she was inside. The two remaining Smiths turned to go.   
  
"MOVE IN!" yelled Brin, and thumped the side of the carriage with her fist, scrambling inside. The carriage pulled away. There was a commotion inside as if Tinga was trying to escape, and the door swung open. Then it closed.   
  
Soldiers dived upon the Smiths and Princess Max, knocking Charles to the ground and stealing Little Case from his arms.   
  
Case panicked. This wasn't how it was meant to be!  
  
"You bastard!" he heard Max scream at Lydecker, who seemed just as horrified as anyone.   
  
"I swear to ye, Princess, I didn't do this!" he cried.   
  
Max punched the tyrant in the face, knocking him to the grass, and ran after the soldiers who had taken Little Case.   
  
And someone else intercepted them. A man on a white horse that galloped onto the common- a true knight in shining armour. Prince Zack. He rode in front of the soldiers, and Max took most of them out, taking Little Case and holding him. The ones still standing ran off in fear.   
  
Case sunk to the grass and held his head in his hands. "Princess Tinga..." he moaned.   
  
She wasn't coming back.   
  
* * *   
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to Fox and James Cameron. Not me. So don't sue.   
  
NOTE: No, this isn't the last chapter either. At the most, this fic will extend for two more chapters.   
  
Did anyone feel even the least bit sad in this part? I know most people are going to review to scoff, 'NO! That was PATHETIC!!!' but seriously. My ambition in the world of fics is... um... to make at least one person on ffn.net cry. Great. Now I'm going to get a whole helluva lot of reviews that will all simply say, 'You're twisted.' But there have been many greats on this site who have managed to make me cry, me being the big ol' sook that I am, and I just want to have the same effect in my writing.   
  
I'm so sad. On a great many levels. Anyhow, more soon! 


	9. Chapter Nine: Through The Eyes Of Anothe...

Case suddenly stood in a darkened hallway lit by burning torches. He shivered- there was a smell of the damp of centuries dripping from the walls. Vapour billowed from his mouth as he breathed out.   
  
Where was he? Not the Manticore castle- this didn't feel the same. There was the sinister sense of foreboding, but it just wasn't the same.   
  
Maybe it was just because Princess Tinga was fully-grown in the recent encounters. As odd as it was to see a beautiful woman savagely running a colossal beast through with a sword, you had more confidence in her than in her ten-year-old counterpart.   
  
"Brin, why won't you let me out?" he heard a pleading voice beg. Case turned a corner praying that it was so...  
  
Princess Brin was standing on her tiptoes on a small stool she'd propped in front of a cell door with a tiny barred window and was speaking to the cell's inhabitant. "Tinga, this is where you belong!" she protested weakly. "But you're sick... they told me, they said you'd contracted a disease from living with commoners so long, and... and..." It sounded like Brin was trying to convince herself as much as her sister.  
  
"It's because they think I am the one destined to be supreme monarch of Wyominia, Brin! But I'm not, I know I'm not. I'm not strong enough," wailed Princess Tinga's voice. It sounded thin and exhausted.   
  
"It is true..." said Princess Brin. "It is said a dark, strong woman of virtue and truth will reign over Wyominia and lead its captive aristocracy to safety from the Manticore Castle's depths." She shook her head and snapped, sounding again like the woman with the riding crop who'd commanded the soldiers in Portlandshire. "It's not TRUE! They wouldn't lie to us, Tinga!"  
  
"How can you say that?" demanded Princess Tinga. "You say that they want to cure me of some disease. Can't you see that I am dying by their evil charms and poultices? You say I am the one meant to rule when you know the stars would not decree it that way? It be'th-"  
  
Princess Brin looked angry. "Sister, I have tried to tolerate you, but you show my superiors disrespect!"  
  
"Brin, look on me. I am not long for this world should I stay in this cursed place."  
  
"No!" said Princess Brin. "Don't say that! You're not meant to die, sister! You're supposed to come back so you can be my sister again..." She sounded about to cry. Her voice became shrill.   
  
"734!" barked a voice as a woman in a sorceress' robes marched down the hall, lifting her elegant skirts from the filth. The woman's hair was bleached-blonde and she smiled cruelly as Brin gave a yelp and tripped off the stool. "734, what are you doing?"  
  
"Absolutely nothing, milady!" answered Princess Brin mechanically, picking herself up off the floor.   
  
"Good. To your quarters, 734. I wish to speak to the prisoner alone," said the woman. Brin skittered past her in a fashion achingly reminiscent of the good, gentle, loyal Princess Brin of the Manticore royals' childhood.   
  
Brin lingered at the end of the corridor as Case, horrified, ran at the blonde woman. "Let her out!" he yelled in rage. "Let the princess go!"  
  
Nothing. There was no reaction from anyone in the corridor. Case caught on with horror that, like his first dreams about the Manticore Castle and the royals, nobody could hear or see him. He might as well have been a ghost.   
  
A vindictive smile curled the edges of the woman's mouth. "Queen Tinga, you're dead," she hissed. "Wyominia is as good as mine. I'll have you know I've killed four of your family already- they were worthless. But you, my dear, fit all the requirements the stars foretold. A dark, strong woman indeed..."  
  
"Who?" came Princess Tinga's weakened voice. "Which ones are dead?"  
  
"We thought it was 798- the princess Jace," she continued, smiling broadly. "We were MOST vexed when she ran away. In my respect and that of my compatriots, she fitted the bill most splendidly. But no matter... you fit it so much better. And so you are going to die, Your Majesty."  
  
She turned, looking mildly surprised at seeing Brin still standing there, having heard everything. Then the woman strode past Princess Brin with a snarl of, "And not a word to your king, 734."  
  
There came a shriek from Princess Tinga's cell. "MY BROTHER AND SISTER WILL COME FOR ME!"  
  
Princess Brin shook her head and slunk out.   
  
"MY BROTHER AND SISTER WILL COME FOR ME!"  
  
And before Case could look through the barred window, his location had changed yet again. He found himself inside a tiny room where Princess Brin, dressed in nightclothes, lay on her mattress on the floor. It was nighttime.   
  
These were apparently her quarters inside the Manticore Castle. She had her arms folded over her chest like a person in their tomb, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes were wide open and she seemed to be fighting a furious internal battle.  
  
Suddenly, Brin sat up and crawled to her weapons chest in the corner of the room. She pulled out a small cauldron and some vials of coloured liquid, pouring the entire contents of each vial into the cauldron. Finally, she extracted from the chest a tiny red feather. Princess Brin blew on it and dropped it into the cauldron.  
  
The liquids erupted into flame and became again liquid, bubbling violently toward the brim of the cauldron, where they simmered. The potion became first blood red, then a venomous green and faded to a dreamy opaque.  
  
"Show me Tinga," demanded the princess in her warlike tones, which softened as she next spoke. "Show me my sister as I do remember her."  
  
The potion suddenly bloomed raven in the centre of the liquid and boiled black. Then Case saw what Princess Brin had wanted to see...  
  
In the surface of the potion was a picture of a swarm of very young children jostling to see out of a slit window to a courtyard below.  
  
"Hold me up, T'nga!" bleated a tiny Asian girl as she stood on tiptoes. "Wha's happening to our pa'ents?"  
  
"They're leading them to th' block, Brinny," said the biggest child, a black girl of about five years old. She spoke in the same strained, affected tones. Her voice was very young. "Be patient!"  
  
"Is my mommy gon' die?" whispered a boy.   
  
"Shh, ev'ryone!" said the oldest boy, who was blonde and big for his age. It was Prince Zack. "Nom'lies might hear us!"  
  
At his words there was a sudden rumbling and the children- there was about ten or twenty of them- looked afraid. In particular they stared now not out the window at their parents' assumed execution, but at a portrait of a Hispanic-looking lady in rich furs who held two babies (somewhat resembling Princess Max and Prince Krit) in her lap. It jolted and vibrated on the wall as if somebody was hitting the wall on the other side with a baseball bat.  
  
"NOM'LIE!" screamed a girl, taking a smaller boy by the hand. "RUUUUUN!"  
  
The children went sprinting away as a Nomaly guard came crashing through the stone. The tiny Asian girl tripped and held out a hand, clutching at her ankle as the Nomaly sniffed the air. "T'nga!" she shrieked as her pseudosister chivvied the younger ones along. "Please don' leave me!"  
  
The older girl (who Case knew suddenly was Princess Tinga) turned back without a second thought and helped up Little Brin. Both began to run...  
  
The image vanished and another took its place. This was of the princesses Tinga and Brin climbing onto the roof of the Home Tower via the rope in the dead of night. Clouds curled the horizon and blotted out the stars. Both wore ripped nightdresses and Brin (who was nine or barely ten) rubbed at her eyes a lot, yawning.   
  
"Pray, sister, might I lie down whilst you beseech thy wish unto the Blue Faerie?"  
  
"T'will be freezing, sister," said Princess Tinga thickly, for she had her fingers in her mouth and seemed to be wiggling a loose tooth free. "But yea, you might. It's... private, what the Faerie and myself must discuss."  
  
The younger girl looked mildly offended. "Private from me, sister, what thou wilt discuss?"  
  
"Of course not, Brinny. But the others might break thy resolve and know. There is nothing I have private from thee."  
  
Brin made a small noise of dissent and curled up on the slats while her sister dithered about, and when Princess Brin seemed to be asleep the older girl knelt before the Blue Faerie, putting a bloody tooth on her shrine.   
  
"Ma'am, I beg of thee, I don't know what to do. I have these strange feelings... hardly feelings, more an affliction... for Prince Ben. I don't know what they are, but the texts King Lydecker ordered burnt inform me I'm doing something called 'in love'. I know it's bad, ma'am, and..."  
  
Case winced as he remembered the special smiles ten-year-old Tinga had given only Ben. So that was what they were.  
  
One could see quite plainly that Young Brin's eyes were open, and she had a look of shock upon her young face. She sat up suddenly, startling Princess Tinga.  
  
"How much did you hear, sister?"  
  
"Of what?" asked Princess Brin, playing dumb.   
  
"Of... what I was saying," explained Princess Tinga.  
  
Brin raised her eyebrows. "I was asleep, sister. I am ready to sleep now in my bed, doest thou object to being left alone? I wish to repair now to the tower room."  
  
"Not at all, baby sister," Tinga breathed, sighing. "Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight."  
  
Brin scrambled down the rope and through the window, almost falling onto Max and Jondy, who were shaking with silent laughter.   
  
"WERE you asleep, sister Brin?" giggled Princess Max. "Oh, your luck hath run afoul if that be so!"  
  
"Tinga in love!" chortled Jondy. "We hath read more of the texts that she, WE know its meaning fully! With Ben, no less!"  
  
With a fearful look upward, Princess Brin advanced on the two giggly princesses, fists raised. They looked surprised at this show of spunk from their usually timid sister.   
  
"Not a WORD!" she hissed. "No word to any about what has transpired! A fine way to repay Tinga for all she hath done for you! She is our mother, sister, avenger and you would make sport of her? For shame!"  
  
Glaring, young Princess Brin pushed past the shamefaced Princess Jondy and Princess Max.  
  
Case looked at her adult counterpart and saw in surprise that tears slid down her cheeks, falling into the water and marring its surface.  
  
A final scene. Underneath a stone bridge and again in the night, a tiny lamp bore a flame for the sisters Tinga and Brin. Both were dressed as peasant girls- they had long since escaped. Rain spattered onto the black river, chilling them.  
  
Crawling on all fours came Tinga, her splendid long hair coiled into a messy topknot. Underneath a burlap sack Princess Brin was curled up, freezing water on her pale face.   
  
Princess Tinga, who looked deathly worried for her best friend, forced a smile. "Baby, are you feeling better?"  
  
"I'm so cold, Tinga," whispered Princess Brin.  
  
Tinga moved the lamp closer. "Got us six dollars pickpocketing in the town hall, sister dear. We can have breakfast tomorrow."  
  
"Am I going to die?" murmured Brin.   
  
"No," said Tinga, rubbing her hands and blowing on them to try at make them warm. She smoothed Brin's hair. "Of course you're not going to die. You are a Wyominia royal." She tried to make Brin laugh. "We're not ALLOWED to die!"  
  
Case couldn't help but smile. What a great little girl.  
  
"Want a lullaby, baby?"  
  
Little Brin seemed about to protest. but her face softened. "What one?"  
  
"It's silly, sister. Ben wrote it for me once, the night you accidentally shot me in the shoulder-"  
  
A grimace took Princess Brin's features. "I don't want to remember that."  
  
"He wrote it to make me feel better, sister. He made the words, Eva made the music. It'll make thee better too."  
  
"All right."  
  
Tinga curled up behind her sister, winding Brin's hair through her fingers. "I call it 'Ben and Eva's Lullaby'. They called it 'Troubles'," whispered Princess Tinga.  
  
"I want to hear it."   
  
"Feels like the world is closin' on me. Feels like my dreams will never come to me. I keep on slippin' deeper into myself and I'm scared, so scared..."  
  
Brin coughed.   
  
"If you're troubled, you just gotta let it go. If you're worried, baby, you just gotta let it go. This journey ain't for nothing, you just gotta take it slow, and when you need me, baby, all you do is let me know."  
  
"It's sad," said Princess Brin, watching rainwater splatter onto the dark water. A tear pricked at her young eye. "I miss them."  
  
"Shh," commanded Tinga. "It's not finished."  
  
"I apologise."  
  
"Why does it feel that my mind is constantly trying to pull me down? I can't seem to get away. Continuous mistakes I know I've made before... how long will I feel so out of place?" sang Princess Tinga as Brin's eyes closed.   
  
"I'm too old for lullabies," murmured Princess Brin.  
  
"Of course you are," said Tinga, and continued. "Feels like the world is closin' on me. Feels like my dreams will never come to me. I keep on slippin' deeper into myself and I'm scared, so scared- If you're troubled, you just gotta let it go. If you're worried, baby, you just gotta let it go. This journey ain't for nothing, you just gotta take it slow, and when you need me, baby, all you do is let me know..."  
  
Brin was asleep. "Love you," said Tinga, smiling.   
  
And the final memory faded as well.   
  
Brin tipped the contents of the cauldron out of her window. She placed the tiny cauldron on the floor beside her and stared at the night. As Case Smith knelt still on the bricks, Princess Brin began to cry.   
  
"Tinga..." she called. "Tinga..."  
  
Case only stared.   
  
"By the Faerie... why did I let you die?" she sobbed, and Case felt like someone had slammed a huge weight onto him.   
  
Tinga?  
  
Dead?  
  
Case awoke for real this time, and had never felt so sad and lonely.   
  
Because he knew for real now. Princess Tinga and Penny Smith were one and the same.  
  
And he had lost both again.  
  
* * *   
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Dark Angel' belongs to James Cameron and Fox. The song 'Troubles' belongs to Alicia Keys (I changed a couple of words and added a couple) and her record company. Not me. So don't sue.   
  
NOTE: Nope, this still ain't the last chapter of the story. I hope you all liked it. Are there any unresolved issues you'd like discussed? Because NOW is the time to tell me.   
  
The whole CrushingOnBen!Tinga thing is a reference to 'Named By Nature', which is one of my Tinga fics where she remembers her childhood. I'm sorry if I made Jondy and Maxie sound like bitches, but they're CHILDREN. They're supposed to find the idea of love hilarious. Plus they (particularly Jondy) sometimes sound like the kind of kids who do whatever they're not supposed to.   
  
The Brin Accidentally Shooting Tinga thing comes from my fic 'Try So Hard'. Laters, all! 


End file.
